The Trouble With Me
by Olly BaaBaa-Chan
Summary: -sigh- ANOTHER highschool fic. how original right? Depends on your opinion I guess. Sakura's new to Konoha High and meets a whole bunch of great friends, including Gaara, but will she end up causing them more trouble than she ever imagained? gaaxsaku
1. Chapter 1

Sakura walked quietly past the people lining the pathway in front of her new school, Konoha High. There were people in tees, people on the grass, people standing, and people sitting. She sighed. It was the same every time. People would stare at her before they would look away. This was Sakura's first day of school. She had just moved to her new home in Konoha, and she was attending public school. Her previous school had been private, so she didn't know what to expect. For some reason, people seemed to be staring at her more than usual. Were they looking at her hair? Her hair was pink, cut short with bangs sweeping over to one side. But the pink? She couldn't help it; it was naturally that color. Could they be looking at what she was wearing? She glanced down at her clothes. Brown jacket over pink tank with brown corduroy pants. She hugged herself and looked back at the faces staring at her.

"Hey, you new here?" called a voice. Sakura turned around to look at a girl with long blonde hair in a high ponytail. She wore a very short skirt and a low cut pink shirt that read, 'Yeah, you wish'

"Oh, um, yes." Sakura said quietly, forcing out a smile. The blonde girl sneered but then flashed a big smile.

"Well I'm Ino. You seem to have a good sense of color and I like your hair. Why don't you hang out with me for a while and I'll introduce you to people."

"Ok. Thanks." Sakura forced out. She walked closer to Ino, ready to follow her, but Ino turned suddenly, letting her long hair slap Sakura in the face.

"Just don't get in my way, alright?" Ino started walking briskly in the opposite direction, leaving Sakura to look after her. She heard some laughter and looked to her left. A near by tree was sheltering a small group of people. They all seemed to be wearing dark colors and they all smirked at her. Sakura felt scared looking at them, so she hurried after Ino.

Ino walked over to a good looking boy with raven colored hair and dark eyes. A small group of girls giggled at everything he did, making him growl at them in annoyance. "Hi, Sasuke!" Ino called, waving at him and skipping a few steps. He looked up at her and sighed.

"What do you want, Ino?" he asked rather rudely.

"You!" she cried, completely forgetting about Sakura. She threw her arms around him, much to his distaste.

"Argh! Don't touch me!" he yelled, trying to pry her of him.

"But Sasuke-kun!" she whined. "We would make such a cute couple!" turning to Sakura she added, "don't you think we would make a cute couple?"

Sakura didn't have time to answer. Sasuke finally got Ino off him and asked, "Who is she?" he looked at Sakura. Ino was apparently pissed that he was asking about another girl.

"Oh she's no one, Sasuke. I thought she might be ok to hang out with but she's really just a little bitch with a big forehead." She crossed her arms and turned away from the insulted Sakura.

It was true, Sakura did have a slightly large forehead, but her anger rose especially when Ino criticized it. This girl didn't even know her and only ten seconds before had been somewhat friendly to her. Sakura glared. Her temper was usually kept quiet inside her, but she was being insulted by someone who didn't even know her name.

"Excuse me!" she said hotly, making Sasuke and Ino look at her. "I've only been at this school for a few minutes but I can tell the only bitch around here is the one standing in front of me. You think you're so high and mighty but you're probably just a little slut hiding behind you're daddy's power am I right? So don't you dare insult me! You don't even know my name!" Sakura spun on her heel and stormed off, leaving Ino to stare after her. The people who before had been staring at her were now gaping in shock.

She would probably get in trouble for that. Not only had she insulted the girl, but also her father, whom Sakura didn't even know. It wasn't the smartest thing to do on her first day of school, but her temper had gotten the better of her. Sakura hid her fear behind a face of confidence in her outburst. She made her way over to a (supposedly) unoccupied tree. Sakura leaned against the trunk and crossed her arms.

"Who the hell do you think you are?" said a voice. Sakura turned to see a girl hanging upside down from a branch of the tree she was standing under. The sight scared her and she stumbled and fell to the ground. The girl that was hanging swung down and landed on her feet to stand above Sakura.

Sakura picked herself up off the ground to look at the girl. She recognized her as one of the darkly dressed people from earlier. She had dark brown hair wound up in to buns on the sides of her head and bangs. She wore a dark purple shirt that read, 'whatever' and black capris. Black bracelets ringed her arms and she had very worn down Converse.

"I asked you a question." The girl said, breaking Sakura from her trance.

"Oh, I'm Haruno Sakura." She said.

"Well Sakura, you've been here, what, ten minutes? And you've already pissed of Yamanka Ino, the bitch queen?" she crossed her arms and stared down Sakura.

"Well what was I supposed to do? She started insulting me before she even knew my name!" Sakura said defensively. The girl's expression changed into a smile and she started laughing. Sakura stared in confusion.

"I didn't mean it like that!" the girl laughed. "I meant it as a compliment! Yamanka Ino is one of the meanest girls alive! No one talks back to her! I'm impressed, to be honest." She smiled warmly and held out her hand. Sakura hesitated a moment, but she decided the girl was sincere, so she took her hand and shook it. "I'm Ten Ten by the way." The girl added, taking her hand back.

Sakura smiled. "It's nice to meet you." Ten Ten looked her over. "Where do you shop?" she asked.

"Oh I don't know, here and there. I don't really care for this outfit, but my mom said it went with my hair and that it would be good for first impressions at school." Sakura answered honestly. She actually wished she and Ten Ten were switched, because she liked her outfit more than her own.

"Oh so you usually don't wear clothes like that?" Ten Ten asked. She couldn't stop a bit of hopefulness slipping into her voice.

"No. The last school I went to was private and I mostly wore the uniforms, so my wardrobe wasn't that big to begin with anyway. My mom took me shopping and bought a bunch of clothes like this. I don't really like any of them, and there's only enough for one week. I actually need to go shopping on Saturday." She looked back at Ten Ten. This might be a good chance to really make a new friend. "Would you like to come with me?" at first Ten Ten blinked at the invitation, but then she smiled and said sure. The girls continued conversing about where to meet and what not before a few other people popped up to talk to them.

"Hey chicks. What's up?" a guy with a large furry coat walked up. He had triangular red marks on his cheeks and messy brown hair; Sakura saw the head of a puppy poking out from inside the coat.

"Hey Twenty, who's this?" said another boy. He seemed a little bit older than the other and had purple markings on his face. He had sandy brown hair and a black zip-up jacket.

"I told you not to call me that, Kankuro!" Ten Ten yelled, smacking him in the arm. "And this is Haruno Sakura. She's dressed weird but she's cool."

"You're the girl who pissed off Ino, right?" Said another boy. He had long dark brown hair tied in a low ponytail and white eyes that almost seemed to glow. Behind him was a girl with the same eyes and dark purple hair. She wore a black and purple shirt and black jeans.

"I'd bet you're troublesome." A fourth boy said. He had both ears pierced and his dark hair pulled into a high, spiky ponytail. He too was wearing a black jacket.

A girl sporting a lot of fish nets and blonde hair pulled into four ponytails walked around the boys. "Well done, Haruno." She said, peering down at Sakura.

Finally a blonde boy with whisker-like markings on his cheeks jumped up from out of no where. Out of the group, he was the most colorful, sporting an orange and black jacket and orange pants. "That was awesome! Ino's face was so crazy, she looked like she was ready to kill someone!" he practically yelled at Sakura. "Namely you," he added, grinning. She smiled. They seemed like nice people, as opposed to scary like she had thought them before.

Ten Ten spoke up again. "Everyone this is Sakura. I doubt she'll be able to make friends with anyone over there, (she pointed to the crowd in the direction of Ino and Sasuke) so do you guys think she could hang with us?" Sakura looked up at the group hopefully. She needed some good friends after her fight with Ino. They all glanced at each other, then nodded to her. She smiled and said, "It's nice to meet you all."

The blonde boy in orange started off the introductions. "I'm Uzamaki Naruto!" he chimed.

The blonde girl entered in. "I'm Temari. This is my brother Kankuro." She pointed to the boy with the purple face markings; he grinned.

The boy with the big coat and the dog said, "I'm Kiba, and this is Akamaru." Akamaru barked.

The white-eyed boy lifted a hand and said, "Hyuuga Neji." He turned to the girl with purple hair behind him.

"I-I'm H-Hyuuga H-Hinata." She mumbled, tapping her fingers together nervously. Everyone looked back at the remaining boy with the spiky ponytail.

"Troublesome," he muttered.

"Nice to meet you, Troublesome!" Sakura blurted out before she could stop herself. She quickly covered her mouth and muttered, "Sorry."

The whole group started laughing (well except Hinata, who just kind of giggled nervously). Even the boy in question smirked a little. "He's Nara Shikamaru," Temari said after calming down.

"You know you're pretty cool, Pinky." Said Kiba as he put an arm around her shoulder. "Don't worry about Shikamaru, he thinks everything is troublesome."

Sakura continued talking with her new friends and learned a lot about them. She learned that Temari and Kankuro were in the grade above and that Neji and Hinata were cousins and that Shikamaru was a super genius. She learned that Ten Ten was the sports star (mastering in basketball, softball, track, and even archery) and that Naruto LOVED ramen. She also learned about Temari and Kankuro's other brother, who was apparently the absent leader of the group. She learned that he, Naruto, Neji, and Shikamaru were in a band called 'Shinobi'. Naruto played drums and vocals, Shikamaru played bass and vocals, Neji played second lead guitar and lead vocals, and 'the absent' (she doesn't know his name yet) played lead guitar and lead vocals.

Sakura told them about her old school and music she liked to listen to. She told them her love for singing (which for some reason interested Naruto and Neji A/N you'll find out why later .) and at how she had won her last schools' talent shows three times. She told them of how she liked to draw and write stories and how she hoped to be a medic of some kind in the future. She meant it as a joke, but she also slipped the matter of her insane strength into the conversation. When Kankuro scoffed at that she hit him in the arm, sending him flying to the ground. The others sniggered while slowly backing away a little from her. Sakura was having a great time talking with them when the school doors opened and they had to go inside.

Temari and Kankuro went a separate direction from the group while Ten Ten and Hinata took her to the office to get her schedule. It turned out her first two classes she had with Hinata and her third with Ten Ten so at least until lunch she would know were to go. Hinata lead her to her locker and then class. When they reached their destination, Sakura saw that both Neji and Naruto were in the class as well. She sat down with them and Hinata.

People were whispering as Sakura took a seat. "What are they talking about?" she asked. Naruto looked around before turning back to her and grinning, however, it was Hinata who spoke up first.

"T-They're talking about y-your f-fight with Ino." She said quietly. Sakura sweat dropped. What would she do if she saw Ino or Sasuke again? Hinata saw her worry. "d-don't worry S-Sakura-san. It'll b-be ok." Sakura smiled.

"And don't worry about Hinata's stutter either. Once she gets to know you better, it'll stop." Neji said, glancing at Sakura. He then looked at Hinata evilly and added, "Except when she gets around a certain blonde." He looked at Naruto who was grinning for no particular reason. Hinata squeaked and went really red.

"Yeah a blonde, huh? Wonder who it is." Naruto said, his eyes closed in friendly slants. Neji sighed and shook his head.

"Apparently a _dumb_ blonde." He said, rubbing his temples. Sakura giggled. She was beginning to wonder where the teacher was, but no one else seemed worried, so she relaxed. Just as she got comfortable a loud noise made everyone jump. Sakura turned around.

The door had been swung open so forcefully that it had hit the wall behind it, which was the cause of the loud noise. A boy with blood red hair walked in. His eyebrows were almost nonexistent and he had black rings completely around his eyes. On the right (or left to him) side of his forehead was a tattoo of the Chinese character for 'love'. He was wearing baggy black pants with a few chains hanging off them and a black t-shirt that red 'STFU' in red letters. _He is so hot! _Thought Sakura. Normally he might've looked strange without eyebrows, but with the black ringed eyes he looked absolutely gorgeous. Sakura stared at him as he glared at the entire class before walking over towards her, Hinata, Neji, and Naruto.

"That's Gaara for you, always wanting to make a dramatic entrance." Neji said smirking. Gaara only shrugged before turning to glare at Sakura. Originally his glare was meant to scare her away, but when she only stared back he growled and asked, "Who the hell are you?" his voice was deep and masculine, and it made Sakura's insides flutter.

"I'm Haruno Sakura." She said. She tried to smile but his glare made her almost afraid to. His eyes were an emerald color and she wanted to gaze at them forever.

"I don't care who you are. I meant who are you to think that you can sit with us?" his nastiness reminded her of Sasuke and Ino, and immediately the fluttery feelings disappeared. Her anger started to rise.

"Who are you to think that I would be afraid of your death glare? I can sit where I want, thank you." She glared back at him, crossing her arms over her chest. Neji, Naruto, and Hinata stared at her. It seemed like she had to go through the whole Ino incident all over again. _Dammit,_ she thought _I really need to control this stupid temper of mine._

"I'm guessing you're new because if you knew who I am you would definitely be afraid of me. If I were you I'd take that back." He was threatening her now, not breaking the glaring contest.

"Well if you knew I who I am you'd know I'm not someone who's easily intimidated." she said back. "And I don't have to take anything back." Hinata looked like she was about to faint. The whole class was staring at them in awe.

_I've never really had someone talk back to me like that. _Gaara thought to himself. _This girl is really annoying, but also…_he couldn't think of the right word to describe her. She mimicked his death glare. _If she was smart she wouldn't do something like that._ He raised his hand as though he might hit her, but when he brought it down to slap her, Sakura's own hand flew up to catch it. She was strong enough to stop the momentum, but she winced when the stinging pain of the slap hit the back of her hand. The whole class gasped, and Hinata finally fainted. Gaara broke his glare and smirked.

"Alright, kids that's enough." Said a voice. The teacher finally walked in. He had silver hair slanting in a diagonal shape and a black mask covering his face from the eyes down. Despite the color of his hair he didn't look more than thirty years old. He had one hand in a pocket and the other was clutching a small orange book. Everyone (except Hinata who was still unconscious) turned to look at him. "I see we have a new student." He nodded to Sakura before turning to Gaara, "and Gaara it isn't nice to hit the other children, especially if they're new. If I catch you trying to hit another student you'll be expelled, again." He added the last bit after the shortest of pauses. "Now apologize so we can start class." Gaara glared at the teacher, then back at Sakura, then back at the teacher again. He stood straight and walked around to the desk behind Sakura to sit down.

_This girl's something else. _Gaara thought as he stared at the back of her pink head. The whole class calmed down and the teacher started the class. Sakura learned that the teacher's name was Kakashi, that he was a pervert and liked to read porno books, and that he was for some reason always late. When Hinata finally woke up she quietly explained that Sakura was the girl who back-talked Ino and that she was now their friend. Gaara only glared and shifted in his seat at the news. Soon class was over and Sakura went with Hinata.

The week continued on without any other occasions like the one she had with Gaara or Ino. Ino had resolved to just pretending Sakura was a speck of dirt, and would always merely walk past her without a word. Ino was still prettiest in the school, and as long as she had her attention, she was happy (or at least less bitchy).

Gaara was in a few more of her classes as were some of her other new friends. Sakura decided not to talk to him, even though she couldn't get rid of the fluttery feelings she got when she looked at him. She tried to convince herself that he was mean and selfish and uncaring but even so, he was still hot. Attractive as he was she silently convinced herself that he wasn't her type. Sakura decided to just ignore him as much as possible.

Gaara had no choice but to be around Sakura, because all his other friends positively loved her. For some reason though, despite her attitude towards him, and her disrespectfulness, Gaara still couldn't think of the word to describe her. She wasn't like his sister, Ten Ten, or Hinata. She got along with all his friends in a different way individually, and as a whole also. Her look reminded him of an Ino wannabe, no matter how much his friends tried to tell him otherwise. Gaara too decided that ignoring her would be best.

When school finally let out on Friday, Sakura walked with Ten Ten, Hinata, and Temari. They were nice to her and she finally felt that she really did belong with them. She hadn't really had loads of time to hang out with friends at her old school. She learned that Temari had a crush on Shikamaru (even though he was younger than her), that Ten Ten had a crush on Neji, and that Hinata had a crush on Naruto. Temari was loud and daring. Ten Ten was great at sports, as said before. Hinata was extremely shy but she was always helped out by her cousin. Neji was protective of her, but in a good way. The other guys were great too. Kiba was always making jokes and Naruto was always up for doing something stupid. Neji was quiet, but a nice guy all the same. Shikamaru said 'troublesome' to nearly everything, but would always help out when needed. When Ten Ten asked where Sakura wanted to meet to go shopping, Temari and Hinata became interested, so they all decided they would go together.

Sakura had decided to meet the other girls in front of the school on Saturday morning, because it was really the only place she knew (remember, she's new in town) and later they led her to the mall by car. Sakura loved shopping, especially with other people. They ventured into this store and that store, buying Sakura a whole new wardrobe. She also bought some new make-up and a pair of Converse high tops. Sakura felt so grateful that she had these new friends to guide her. Temari seemed to be the most daring, picking out fishnets and black miniskirts. Hinata was shy, but had a good sense for matching tops and bottoms. Ten Ten was great with finding the right color make-up and so forth, including jewelry and accessories. By the time the mall closed, it took all four girls to carry all the bags, even though it was mostly all for Sakura. They led her back to the school after loading everything in her car and from there she drove home.


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: I didn't put this on the first chapter, but i DONT own Naruto cries dramamtiaclly

A/N sorry for all those who don't want sakura to be goth/punk, but she's not scary i promise i wrote this like...four or five months ago, and i'd rather not go back and change all of it.

It was Monday of Sakura's second week. As she rolled out of bed she gave a look of pity towards her smashed alarm clock. Damn her insane strength! She took a quick shower and looked through her new wardrobe. She wanted to impress her new friends, so she looked over this shirt, glanced at those pants, and eyed that mini skirt. Thanks to Temari, Ten Ten, and Hinata her new clothes were all very fashionable, but she wanted to look great in her new style, so she tried to find the best outfit possible. Sakura smiled as she found it.

The shirt had been picked out by Hinata. It was a dark red V-neck shirt. The sleeves were short and just barely hung off her shoulders, leaving her black bra straps exposed. A small guitar was sewn by the bottom edge of the shirt in black thread. The pants had been picked out by Temari. They were black cargo pants with the Chinese character 'hope' on the back pocket in red. She wore her new Converse. Finally came the black fishnets for her arms, a skull bracelet, and a black choker necklace with a tiny guitar on it (courtesy of Ten Ten's amazing accessorizing abilities). Sakura quickly applied some black nail polish and some eyeliner to complete her look. As she looked at her overall reflection, a small gasp escaped her. She looked _nothing_ like she had before. _Oh my God! _She thought _I look…well…I look hot! I wasn't allowed to dress like this before! _She knew her mom wouldn't approve much, and her dad would hate it, but she decided she wasn't going to change her new look anytime soon, at least not willingly. Smiling gladly she silently thanked Ten Ten, Temari, and Hinata. They had really known what they were doing.

Sakura grabbed a power bar and a glass of juice before heading out the door with a quick (but cheerful) "good morning and bye!" to her mom and dad, giving them no chance to question her outfit. She climbed into her car and drove to school. Upon reaching the school she saw Ino knocking many people (mostly girls) out of the way to get to Sasuke. Sakura made a noise of disgust and parked. She got out of the car and went to the tree where she could clearly see her new friends already waiting.

As she walked towards them she heard distant wolf whistles. Some were coming from her friends (Kiba, Kankuro, and Naruto) but some were coming from different directions. Sakura blushed and resisted the urge to look at where they were coming from. She was still a good ways away from the tree, so she sped up her walking a bit.

"Holy shit! What did you girls do to her?" asked Kiba.

"Nothing! We just took her shopping is all!" came the voice of Temari.

Gaara sat on a tree branch leisurely, out of view from others. His friends' comments caught his attention. Peeking through the branches he looked for what they were talking about. Sakura was walking towards them. He only recognized her from her pink hair; the rest of her outfit was completely different. As her body came closer he found himself inching closer and closer to the edge of the branch to get a better look at her. She looked amazing! Her curves! He hadn't noticed her curves before! And she looked so… _Holy shit…_ He felt his cheeks and chest becoming warmer as he looked at her. He took in her beauty as she walked briskly, closer and closer to the tree…

"Humph!" the group's attention was diverted when they heard a loud thump from behind. They all turned to see Gaara lying on his back, groaning from pain and surprise. Neji gave him a hand to help him up, and they all laughed lightly at him. Gaara had been distracted by Sakura, and his hand had slipped, leading him to fall from the tree. He landed hard on his back, and the wind was knocked out of him. His coughing made the group stop laughing. They all asked if he was alright and he nodded to them. Sakura emerged from the group. When he saw her look of worry he felt his cheeks reddening again, so he turned his back on them to hide it.

As soon as Gaara regained his air, his arms flew up and with one swift jump, his hands grasped the tree branch. Sakura watched as his strong muscles pulled him up to sit on the branch once again. He did it like it was nothing, and Sakura could've drowned in her own drool (eww), had Temari not pulled her aside so no one would see it.

"Sakura! Snap out of it!" she said lightly slapping Sakura. Her eyes grew wide as she found herself staring at Temari. Temari laughed as she wiped away her drool. "Don't worry, Sakura, I won't say anything. Right now you have admirers."

Sakura turned back to the rest of the group (who had started conversing among themselves once more) and told them good morning.

As if on cue everyone's attention snapped back on her (except for Gaara who was out of sight, though he could still hear and see them). Kiba wrapped an arm around her shoulder like he had done the day before. _Gaara growled with jealousy. _"Wow Pinky! You look hot! What happened?" he grinned stupidly. Akamaru leaned outward a little and licked Sakura on the cheek. She muttered thanks, but then realized exactly what he said and hit him in the arm, leaving everyone else to laugh at him.

"Naw, Sakura he's right." Kankuro said, leaning against the tree. "Last week you looked like one of Ino's posse."

"It is an improvement." Shikamaru mumbled (Temari shot a quick glance towards his complement).

"Sakura you look great! Didn't you hear all those whistles?" Naruto asked loudly, swinging on a tree branch with his arms (Hinata made a small sound but looked away).

Neji nodded. "You'll quickly become the most wanted girl in school if you keep dressing like that. I guess that's not necessarily a bad thing, if you like that kind of attention." He said (Ten Ten gasped but quickly recovered).

"Yeah but don't worry, Sakura! If you don't like that then we can take care of all the unwanted guys around you, ok?" Naruto dropped down and smiled at her. Sakura realized what was happening with her (girl) friends. Smiling sweetly she said, "thanks guys but I think I can protect myself (Kiba's new bruise should prove that) and you guys are forgetting the real people behind my new look! If it wasn't for Ten Ten, Temari, and Hinata I would still be dressed in my preppy clothes like before. C'mon! Give them credit too!" she smiled and walked over to hug each of the girls. They all seemed a little shocked but ended up smiling back at her.

"Well yeah! We were about to get to that too! You girls did great!" Naruto swung and arm over the shoulder of the nearest girl (who just happened to be Hinata) and she nearly collapsed from embarrassment under his arm. Neji momentarily glared at the dumb blonde half-way hugging his cousin before turning to Ten Ten and saying, "Yeah I suppose it was your doing after all. You guys did good." Ten Ten blushed and made a gasp/laugh/sound. Kiba and Kankuro agreed and Shikamaru smiled and nodded in the direction of Temari. She blushed but then recovered and smirked.

"Well how could you expect anything less?" she asked. "I mean, it is _us_ after all."

"That's the problem." A voice from behind made Temari jump. She turned around to see Gaara hanging upside down from his branch. "She went shopping with _you._ We didn't know what to expect." Gaara smirked. Thanks to gravity, his loose black t-shirt and fallen to around his neck, exposing his well-toned chest and defined six-pack (Sakura felt light headed upon seeing it, and thought she might faint). Temari glared while the other guys sniggered.

"Oh shut up Gaara! I have a better sense of fashion than you!" she crossed her arms and mimicked his smirk. "And stop trying to show off your body to Sakura, I'm sure she doesn't care to see it." Gaara's smirk disappeared and a slight pink traced his cheeks. Temari turned to Sakura. "Right, Sakura?" right then Sakura felt she really would faint, and would've fallen backwards had Ten Ten not been behind her. Gaara glared at his sister and pulled himself back up into the tree. _Fuck! _He thought._ Now I won't even be able to look at Sakura without blushing! Wait! What? I don't blush! Especially around Sakura! Her and her disrespectful attitude! _But his mind wandered back to her reaction at Temari's comment. His cheeks became hot again. _Dammit!_

Sakura blushed furiously and she glared at Temari who inwardly laughed. Kiba and Kankuro smiled to each other. Naruto blinked stupidly (he didn't understand what was going on). Neji and Shikamaru seemed unfazed. Ten Ten smiled at Sakura and Hinata still seemed too overwhelmed with that fact at how close she was to Naruto. Sakura crossed her arms. She resolved to thinking back to her unplanned motto. 'When in doubt, throw whatever they said back in their face'.

"I don't know what you mean, Temari. I think he should show off his body more often. It's certainly not a bad sight to see, or so I think." Sakura was inwardly slapping herself for saying such a thing, but on the outside she had to focus all her power on not blushing. She kept her arms crossed and closed her eyes for the 'that's decided so shut up' effect.

Temari gaped. Kiba nearly fell over back wards. Kankuro _did_ fall over backwards. Naruto was too shocked to say anything. Hinata was still unresponsive. Shikamaru looked like he had been slapped in the face. Ten Ten gasped. Even Neji looked surprised.

Gaara…well…he fell out of the tree again.

After an awkward silence, the bell rang, forcing the group to abandon the tree and go to class. They all decided to remain silent about Sakura's comment. The week went by the same as the one before (except for her little fight with Gaara and Ino) and it went by faster than Sakura had expected. There were some boys who she had caught looking at her, but whichever guy friend was near her at the time would glare them down. Even Gaara had participated in a glaring contest with one boy when he saw him looking at Sakura suggestively. Gaara won. Sakura didn't talk much to Gaara; she still thought he was a mean prick, but she couldn't ignore the fact of how hot he was, and every time she looked at him she blushed, thinking about the shirt incident.

As Friday ended Sakura waved good-bye to her friends and headed for her car. As she drew closer, much to her dismay, she found Ino waiting for her. She scowled at the blonde. "What do you want?" she asked.

Ino folded her arms and glared. "I want you to stop trying to over power me. Stop trying to become me because it will never happen." Sakura arched an eyebrow.

"Trying to become you? Why the hell would I want to be a nasty bitch queen?" Sakura asked, leaning back on her heals. Ino fumed.

"You know what I'm talking about! Ever since you came to school with that punker princess attitude people have been saying that you're better than me! I know that's not true! Look at you! You're hair's a weird color and your forehead's too big. Not to mention your style is totally stolen!" she glared again.

Sakura was hurt but she didn't show it. "I didn't steal this look, Ino! You're just jealous that it works with me. Also, you point out my flaws, but what about yours? The seventies are over! Stop trying to bring back the hippie look with your overly long hair! Stop being such a material bitch. If everything doesn't go your way then we're all doomed to hell. It's all about you, you, you. You're such an attention pig. Take your nose out of the air for a minute, would you?" Sakura glared with a triumphant smirk. Ino glared at her like there would never be another chance to do otherwise. Sakura had won that battle. She stormed past Ino and stepped into her car. Ino could only watch as Sakura pulled out of the parking spot. Sakura took the opening to stick an arm out the window and wave to the furious Ino and yell, "bye Ino Pig!" as she pulled out of the parking lot Sakura was extremely angry, but also proud of herself for successfully getting past Ino's attitude once again. Boy she was going to have hell on Monday for that.


	3. Chapter 3

Disclaimer: i don't own naruto...wish i did tho. that would be freakin AWESOME squeals

yay! chapter 3!

Sakura rolled out of bed. She didn't care to go to school but she didn't have a choice. She did the morning routine (picking out a red shirt that said 'shh, I'm hiding from the voices', black mid-thigh shorts, and her Cons. she ran down the steps and out the door, not bothering to grab breakfast. She had stayed up late the night before and was still tired. Sakura drove to school and made her way to the tree where they usually met in the mornings. Chat arose and before they knew it, the bell rang calling them in. After a while Sakura had some trouble focusing on her work due to hunger. By the time lunch rolled around, she was famished, and happily the first one in line.

Sakura sat down with her friends to eat, away from the rest of the class. The cousins Hinata and Neji were eating with a different class, and Kankuro and Temari ate at a different time of the day, so Sakura sat down with Ten Ten, Kiba, Naruto, Gaara, and Shikamaru. As she took her seat, they all began to eat, only to be interrupted by a pair of hands, resting flat on the edge of the table. Sakura looked up mournfully from her sandwich to see a pair of onyx eyes. She scowled.

"What do you want, Sasuke?" He smirked at her, while her friends glared at him. He ignored them, and spoke only to Sakura.

"I heard you practically bitch slapped Ino on Friday." He said, leaning closer. Sakura's eyes widened. Her friends knew nothing about this, and they listened intently. "A girl who can do that, _and_ has a body like yours deserves some alone time with me."

Sakura gasped. "Are you tying to reward me or something?" she asked disgustedly. He nodded and gave her a smirk that would've made any of his fan girls faint, but it only made Sakura look at him in repulsion. "You worm! That's disgusting! What in the world would make you think I would want to be with you?" she stood up and slapped him. He was momentarily shocked (due to her strength the slap was worse than a normal one), but then looked up with a smirk.

"But I know you want me," he moved closer to her. "You know too." He made a move to grab her around the waist, but she backed up and ran into something. A voice from behind made Sakura jump, and Sasuke reposition his gaze.

"She already said she didn't want you, or maybe you didn't hear her." Sakura turned to see Gaara standing behind her, arms crossed and glaring at Sasuke like there was no tomorrow. She wondered why Gaara was protecting her, but Sakura was glad. Even Gaara didn't know. Sakura and Sasuke both glanced over to the table to see Kiba, Naruto, and Shikamaru all standing as well, with looks of disgust directed towards Sasuke. Ten Ten was glaring at him as well, and Akamaru growled from inside Kiba's jacket. Sakura shot them glances of thanks before turning back to Sasuke and folding her arms as well. Sasuke scowled at them a moment, but then smirked to Sakura. He turned and raised his hand to wave her good-bye (or something like that).

"See ya later, Blossom." He walked away. Sakura's mouth hung open in shock. Her eye twitched a moment, before…

"WHAT THE HELL DID YOU JUST CALL ME?" Sakura lunged forward to pounce on Sasuke and punch him senseless. Gaara grabbed her from behind and held her in place, but she didn't seem to notice or care, and only continued to thrash around. "You _did not_ just give me a pet name! Come back here! I'll knock you unconscious, you slimy self-absorbed jerk!" People were beginning to stare at her, and after a moment she calmed down. Gaara released her and went back to acting like he didn't care about anything. Sakura sat down in huff and started to eat. Her friends gave each other questionable glances, but decided to ask her about it later, preferably when she wasn't murderous.

When school finally let out Sakura found some of her friends sitting in the grass. She made her way over and sat down. The rest of the group soon found its way to them and they all sat and talked for a while. Well, everyone but Gaara talked. He just kinda sat there and listened to the others' ramblings about teachers and homework.

Eventually someone brought up the topic of lunch. Sakura sighed and explained everything that had happened between her and Ino. They all listened carefully until she finished her story.

"So then he called you Blossom huh? Not a bad name." said Kankuro shrugging. Sakura shot him a deadly glare, making him back away a little. Temari spoke up.

"Well there's nothing you can do about it now. By saying that stuff to Ino, you've gained not only a nasty enemy, but also an unwanted admirer. I guess you'll just have to deal with it." Sakura nodded wearily, and they started talking about a different topic. Soon Naruto brought up the subject of the band. Sakura listened intently.

"Hey Gaara, when's our next practice, huh?" Naruto asked. Gaara looked over at him as though he was annoyed at something.

"Tomorrow." He replied.

"Cool. So what time should we come over?" Neji asked.

"You think I care?" Gaara asked.

"Well it's at your damn house! We can't just barge in at any time!" Naruto said.

"It's never stopped you before, Naruto." Gaara retorted. It was true the blonde was his best friend, but sometimes he just wanted to smack him.

"That's right." Kankuro said. "You come to our house all the time to play _our_ video games and eat_ our_ food and watch _our_ TV and"

"Alright, alright I get your point!" Naruto said hotly.

"But seriously man, what time?" Kiba broke in.

"I thought you weren't in the band, Kiba." Sakura said, confused.

"He's not," Ten Ten said. "We all go to the practices because it's a good time to hang out and help each other with homework and stuff like that." Sakura nodded. It sounded pretty fun.

"Could I come too?" Sakura asked politely. After all this was a close friends' thing and she had barely been their friend for two weeks. Her heart dropped when she saw their faces. They were looking at like she was crazy. She looked away sadly.

"Well, duh! Of course you can come!" Temari blurted out. Sakura's eyes shot up.

"R-Really?"

Akamaru barked and Kiba looked at her confused. "Why did you think you couldn't come? You're our friend too."

"Y-Yeah, Sakura. Y-You d-don't have t-to ask." Hinata stuttered out.

"Don't you want to see us play? We're really good!" Naruto practically yelled.

Sakura beamed. "Ok, thanks!" they all shrugged and smiled to her (except Gaara who was like in his own little world or something). Kankuro told them to all come about five o'clock and the conversations continued. Soon they departed one by one. Both of Sakura's parents worked late so she stayed behind to chat with each remainder. Neji and Hinata left together and Naruto left soon after that. Kiba lived nearby so he put a leash on Akamaru and walked him home. Shikamaru muttered something about 'homework' and 'troublesome' and stalked off to his car. Ten Ten had to go to archery practice so she left. Kankuro and Temari left at the same time, leaving Gaara and Sakura. She wondered why he didn't leave with his brother and sister, but didn't worry about it too much.

Gaara was left with Sakura. He knew Kankuro and Temari had done this to him on purpose since he had his own means of transportation. He glared at their disappearing backs. "Well?" came Sakura's voice.

"Well what?" he asked turning to look at her.

"Well aren't you going home now?" she asked.

"Aren't you?" he asked back. She shrugged.

"My parents don't get home till late so I've waited and talked to everyone as they've left. But now you and I are the only ones. I'm willing to stay and talk if you want, but you don't seem to be the talkative type, so if you go home, I'll leave too." She shrugged again and looked away.

For a moment he took in her beauty. He had never really liked a girl, but against his will he felt a crush beginning. He noticed how the gentle breeze blew through her petal colored hair, and how her eyelashes shimmered when she blinked. Her skin was a milky color, and her cheeks were just the right shade of pink. He couldn't look directly in her eyes, but he could still see the beautiful sea-foam green color. He scowled when she tilted her head so he couldn't see her face.

"So…" she said finally. Gaara stopped looking at her and instead focused on some random spot on the ground.

"So what?" he asked.

"I have a proposition." She said turning to him with a smile.

"Oh really?" he asked with mock enthusiasm.

"If we leave at the same time you can walk me to my car." She said happily.

"And what if I don't want to?" he asked. He really did want to, but he wouldn't let Sakura know that.

"Well that's too bad." She answered. "For you I mean. To me you're quiet, mean, self caring, and lazy. I know you don't like being insulted but that's all I've ever seen from you, even though it's only been two weeks that we've known each other. I suppose you have another side to you that I guess the rest of the group has seen, but I have yet to see it and I wonder why you refuse to try and acquaint yourself with me. I made that proposal in hopes that it might serve as a small bonding experience for just the two of us but I see that you could care less so I'm leaving now." She took a deep breath after finishing her extremely long sentence, grabbed her bag, and turned to walk away, only to be stopped by a tug on her bag.

Sakura turned back to see Gaara holding on to the edge of her bag. His dark ringed eyes were emotionless and his blood red hair waved slightly in the breeze. He felt stupid holding on to her bag like that, but he had been afraid to reach for her shoulder or arm. Releasing her bag he looked ahead and started walking forward. Sakura smiled and walked beside him. They walked in silence. She thought about saying something, but didn't want to annoy him after putting him through a speech about him not being friendly. Sakura saw her car ahead, but something was wrong. Leaving Gaara's side she went to go inspect it. He watched her from a distance as she walked around her car. As he got nearer he saw Sakura was really pissed.

"That bitch!" she practically screamed. Gaara walked closer to see what was wrong. Two of her tires had been stabbed, and a note on the windshield read:

This will teach you to mess with me, you bitch!

-Yamanka Ino

Gaara stared at the note while Sakura fumed. "How the hell am I supposed to get my car home? How am _I_ supposed to get home? Argh! My parents are gonna be pissed!" Gaara remained silent as she rummaged through her bag. "Shit I can't find my cell! Hey Gaara?"

His attention snapped back to her. She averted her gaze. "Yeah?"

"Do…do you have a cell phone that maybe I could use? I can't find mine." She turned away, as though embarrassed. He hated to let her down, but he didn't carry his cell with him because his friends always made prank calls to him. He shook his no. She turned pink. Looking at him, she said, "I'm sorry for what I said before. I can't find my cell and my parents aren't home. Do you think maybe you could give me a ride?" she asked shyly, as though afraid of his answer. Frankly she _was_ afraid of his answer. I don't know if you've noticed, but Gaara and Sakura aren't the best of buds.

He blinked a few times. This was going to be awkward. "Well I guess so. Where to?" he asked.

"My house I guess. Or maybe a place that can come get my car?" she said. He nodded. Leading her away from the car he rounded a corner to a part of the parking lot that seemed to be pretty much cleared out. Sakura became exceedingly confused as they passed the few cars that were there, one by one. Sakura looked around. Where was he going?

Then Sakura stopped in her tracks. Dead in front of them was a black motorcycle. Gaara didn't notice her stop and continued on to the bike. "Are we riding that?" she asked nervously looking at the bike.

Gaara looked at her, then at the bike, then back to her again. "No, we're going riding the pony hidden behind it." He said sarcastically. "Of course we're riding it! Now do you want a ride or not?" She glanced nervously at the bike and ventured a little closer. "What are you scared or something?" Gaara asked with a smirk.

"No I'm not scared!" Sakura said defensively. "I've just never ridden a motorcycle before." Gaara rolled his eyes and straddled the bike.

"You're lucky I have two helmets." He said, handing her one. She took it and pulled it over her head. Gaara motioned for her to sit on the bike, and showed her how to keep her legs up. "Put your arms around me." He said.

"What!?" her response was muffled from under the helmet but he still heard her surprise. "Well you better do it or else you'll fly off once we go forward!" he said pulling his own helmet on. She hesitated a moment but then wrapped her arms around his middle. Gaara unintentionally shuddered at the touch, and prayed that she didn't notice. He turned on the bike and revved it once or twice to let her know to prepare herself. He then let the throttle go and they lunged forward. Sakura yelped and hugged her arms tighter around Gaara. The sound was blaring in her ears but she soon relaxed a little. The cold wind was whipping past and her bare arms felt numb. Gaara's senses clouded over and he didn't resist the urge to let one arm leave the handle bar and caress her arms that were around him. She felt a jolt of shock as he gently stroked her hands and arms, but there was nothing she could do about it. After a while his hand went back to the handle bar and he pulled into an auto shop. He brought the bike to halt and waited for Sakura to get off first. Once she was off he followed example and turned to face her, only to see her angry face.

"What the hell was that!?" she asked angrily, referring to her arms. Gaara tried not to let his anger rise.

He shrugged. "Payback." He answered casually.

"Payback?" she was still angry. "For what?"

"For making me fall out of the tree." It was the first thing that popped into his head, but he went with it. Sakura immediately went pink. Sakura now had two choices of response:

Well I couldn't have Temari making me all embarrassed on the spot like that so I said the first thing that came to mind to throw her off guard. It worked didn't it?

Well it's true; your body is hot! I'd like to see you without your shirt more often baby, yeah! (A/N Omg Austin Powers! Lmao)

Sakura looked away and settled with an, "oh." She looked around for an entrance to the auto shop she hurried inside. Gaara waited patiently outside, thinking about what he had done. _How could I have been so stupid? Am I insane? Don't answer that question. What the hell? I'm talking to myself! No I'm not. WTF I am insane! _Gaara continued with his mental battle until Sakura came out.

"They said they can pick it up tonight, fix it, and have it ready to go by tomorrow." She said happily. Gaara was secretly happy that she was in a better mood; she looked prettier when she smiled.

"Alright so to your house then?" he asked handing her the helmet again.

"Yes please." She said politely, taking the helmet from his outstretched hand. He got back on the bike, as did she, and they put their helmets on. Her arms slid back around him as if she had done it a million times. He barely suppressed a groan. It just felt so…_right._ He shoved the thoughts to the back of his mind and started up the bike again, revved it, and they were off.

Sakura didn't know what to think of this man. One minute they were the most distant people on the planet, the next she was getting rides from him on the back of his motorcycle. Secretly she enjoyed it, for she had once envisioned herself having a badass boyfriend and riding on his motorcycle, but she also didn't like it, because she barely knew him, and he wasn't exactly the nicest of the bunch. But when she put her arms around him the second time she shuddered because it felt like she belonged there. She was scared of the feelings that raced through her mind and body, yet she ignored them and repeated _it's just a ride and nothing more_ over and over again in her head.

Now and again Gaara would motion questioningly on which direction to turn, she would point, and he would go that way. After about fifteen minutes, they reached her house and Sakura saw her parents still weren't home. She sighed with relief. Gaara halted the bike in front of her house and turned it off. She climbed off and removed the helmet.

"Thanks so much Gaara you're a life saver." She said with a smile. He took of his helmet to talk to her.

"It's fine." He said. She suddenly felt bad for the things she had said to him earlier.

"Would you like to come inside? I could make us some tea. I really feel bad for the things I said earlier and I want to make it up to you." He began to say no, but she didn't notice and added a quick, "please?"

Gaara looked down. He was slightly afraid to be alone in her house with her, but she had said please, and only wanted to make an apology. He sighed and got of the bike, kicking down the stand so it wouldn't fall.

"Alright." He said. Sakura smiled and led him to the front door. She fished out her keys and opened it. Gaara looked inside. It was a nice house with cream colored walls full of framed pictures and drawings. There was a blue and white couch and large TV positioned by a fireplace. Adjacent from the room he was in (which was the living room) he saw the kitchen. It had the same cream colored walls but instead of blue, the second color of the room was green. In another direction he saw a dining room and a staircase leading upstairs. It was much nicer than his own home, but there were lots of boxes laying here and there labeled 'living room' and 'kitchen'.

"Sorry about the mess." Sakura said, as she saw him eyeing the boxes. "We've just moved in, you know, and we've only been here a couple weeks. With mom and dad at work it's hard to get everything unpacked." She smiled and headed into the kitchen.

"Well it's better than my house, and we've lived there for years." He said. At first Sakura said nothing, but then her eyes shot up.

"Was that a joke?" she asked. Gaara looked around stupidly, as if to see if she was talking to someone else. Actually he had meant it quite literally, but reviewing his words he saw how there could've been some humor to what he said. He blinked a couple times before he said, "yeah. I guess."

Sakura smiled. "I thought so but it was hard to make sure. What kind of tea do you like? Regular? Green? We even have black tea somewhere but I don't know where for sure." She started looking through random drawers and cabinets.

"Regular is fine." He said, taking a seat on the couch. He watched her as she hurried around, filling the kettle with water and sitting it on the stove. As she waited for the water to heat she came back to the living room.

"I'm sorry." She said, turning to face him. He merely raised a (nearly nonexistent) eyebrow at her. She continued. "I called you quiet, which you are, but it's not in a bad way. I called you mean and self caring, which you proved me wrong by going out of your way to bring me home. I called you lazy, which is completely irrelevant because anyone can tell you're not lazy. I accused you of being distant to me on purpose and I was disrespectful to you the day I came and I feel extremely foolish because I've only known you for about two weeks. I guess I'm used to people warming up to me quicker and it's my fault for not realizing how high my expectations were. I just wanted to apologize and thank you for taking me to the auto shop and now home. And also, I never did give you a proper thank you for protecting me at lunch today, so that too." She finished and looked away, waiting for a response.

"It's fine." He said. Sakura smiled, but then frowned.

"Are you sure?" she asked. He nodded. "Well alright. I think the tea is ready, I'll go get it." She said smiling again. God, he loved her smile. He reflected her words; he had never had someone apologize to him like that. Sakura came back with a tray with two mugs, some sugar, and some cream. She sat the tray down between them. Handing one mug to him she put two scoops of sugar and some cream in her mug and stirred it with a spoon. She watched as Gaara but spoonful after spoonful of sugar into his cup before stirring it.

"I see someone has a sweet tooth, eh Gaara?" she said smirking. He smirked back.

"I've never really liked tea that much unless it was really sweet." He said taking a sip. He exhaled his satisfaction and took another sip. They drank their tea in silence, and soon they were done. Sakura took the tray and mugs back into the kitchen as Gaara stood, getting ready to leave.

She walked him to the door. "Thanks again, and thanks for having tea with me. I feel better now." She said opening the door for him. He nodded and turned to face her.

"I'll be here at seven tomorrow morning, ok?" he said fixing to turn and leave again. Sakura was confused.

"What do you mean?" she asked quite honestly.

"Well don't you need a ride to school and then to the auto shop again?" he asked, only turning his head back to look at her. Sakura had forgotten about that.

"Oh…right," she said. "You really don't have to go out of your way," she started.

"It's fine." He said turning a final time. "Seven o'clock. Don't be late."

"o-ok," she called. "Thanks!"

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i want to say thanks to all my reviewers! if its your first time reading the story, a review would be nice points toward the purple button hintfully


	4. Chapter 4

disclaimer: don't own naruto

olly: thanks to all my reviewers!

sakura: sorry if you dont like me goth. i dont like me goth either!

olly: shut up. its my story!

gaara: i like you goth -smirks-

sakura: -reconsiders being goth-

okiedokie than! Chapter 4!

Sakura's alarm went off. When she had gone to bed the night before she had used her cell phone alarm and placed it far away from her bed. She continuously smashed her already broken alarm clock but realized the beeping wouldn't stop. Slowly getting out of bed she walked over to her cell phone and looked at the time. It read 6:25. Sakura groaned and went to her bathroom. After taking a shower and brushing her teeth she stood in front of her closet once again. She remembered how cold she had been when she rode Gaara's bike yesterday, so she chose a black tank with a red etched dragon on it and a black hoodie over it, with grey jeans and her Cons (A/N ok from now on she pretty much just wears her Cons with every outfit). She quickly applied some makeup and ran down stairs.

"Good morning honey." Chorused both her mom and dad. She had already told them about her car and how a friend was going to pick her up. She just hadn't mentioned the part about the motorcycle.

"Sakura where did you get those clothes?" her dad asked.

"Oh I just went shopping with my new friends is all. Oh look! Its 6:58, I'm gonna go wait for him." She said laughing nervously and grabbing a power bar and juice like before. Her father stopped her however.

"_Him?_ You never mentioned a _him._" Her dad said eyeing her cautiously. You know those commercials where they can't find anything to say so they just stuff s Twix in their mouth? Yeah. That's what Sakura did with the power bar.

"Oh if's nofing thad. Hethes comving on a motvercycle tvoo!" she rushed out the door with her bag before he could say anything else and ran to wait at the end of her driveway. Choking down the power bar and drinking the juice she saw him coming. Seven o'clock on the dot. This guy was good. He stopped in front of her and looked her over. She couldn't see it through the helmet, but Gaara was pleased. She looked just as good as she did before, if not better. He tossed her the helmet and she slipped it on. Suddenly some shouting drew their attention. They both looked up to see Sakura's father storming out of the house. Sakura yelped and climbed on the bike. She didn't want to have to deal with her dad right then. Gaara seemed a bit surprised but through the helmet Sakura squeaked, "go, go, GO!"

Gaara obeyed as she slipped her bag in the side bag and wrapped her arms around his middle. They lunged forward and were off to school with Sakura's dad yelling after them. Gaara wound around corners and finally made it to an empty road. He pulled over to the side and took off his helmet.

"What the hell was that?" he said eyeing her with almost amusement. She took off her helmet and started laughing.

"I'm sorry, but I knew if he caught us we'd never get to school because one: he doesn't like guys around me and two: he despises motorcycles. I knew if there was any chance of us getting away it would have to be before he got there." She giggled some more and smiled humorously at him. He smirked.

"Well ok. You just surprised me is all." He said. "I thought you were a daddy's little girl." He put his helmet back on.

"Well I was before I met you guys." She said, putting her own helmet back on.

"Do you regret it?" he asked through the helmet, revving up his bike again.

"Not a bit." She said, hugging him from behind. He smiled (A/N omg OOC) but it was hidden. They started up again and went all the way to the school. Gaara pulled the bike into the same spot it had been in before. They got off and put their helmets away; Sakura grabbed her bag. She was happy to see that her car had been taken to the auto shop already. They made their way towards the 'group tree' and waited. They were early, even with their detour, and Gaara climbed up into the tree. Sakura felt lonely on the ground by herself, so she jumped to grab the lowest branch and only barely caught it. Gaara watched her as she pulled her legs up through her arms and latched onto the tree with her legs. She was now hanging upside down and shirt fell exposing a small part of taut belly. Upon seeing this small patch of bare skin Gaara's body quivered and he nearly lost his balance. She quickly fixed her shirt and pulled herself up into a sitting position.

"Hi!" she said cheerfully as she turned to face Gaara. He eyed her with confusion. "I was lonely down there," she explained. "So I thought I'd join you up here. It's actually quite nice; I can see why you like it." Gaara was silent and leaned his back up against the trunk. Sakura made herself comfortable (as comfortable as you can get in a tree) and sighed, content to be in his company.

"Hey Gaara?" she called.

"Hn?" he asked slightly shifting his head in her direction.

"Are we friends now?" Sakura asked innocently.

He paused. "I guess so".

Sakura smiled. "Good." She said. After a while she became bored with the silence. She knew it would annoy Gaara, but she tried to start a conversation anyway. "Why do you have 'love' on your forehead?" she asked.

"I dunno. Why is your hair pink?"

"I dunno. What are those black rings around your eyes?"

"I'm an insomniac."

"Oh, I'm sorry."

"Don't be."

"Well ok."

"How come you don't have a boyfriend or something?" he asked, focusing on a random spot on the ground.

This question caught Sakura off guard. "well that last school I went to was an all girls school, and like I said my dad doesn't like the thought of 'boys' and 'me', so no. I've never had a real boyfriend. I've never even had a real kiss before." She confessed blushing slightly but then recovered. "Well what about you. You're not bad looking, how come you don't have a girlfriend?"

"hn…girls are afraid of me, and the only two girls that can tolerate me besides my sister are Hinata and Ten Ten, but they like other people cough cough Naruto and Neji. And also, I've never really liked a girl like that."

Sakura giggled. "Are you implying that you're gay?" she asked. He shot her a nasty glare but when he saw her giggling he realized she was joking.

"Hell no. I don't swing that way. I just mean I've never gotten close to a girl." Sakura sighed. He was surprisingly easy to talk to.

"Well do you like anyone?" she asked.

"Didn't we just go through this?" he asked a bit annoyed.

"No. you said you never had a girlfriend. Now I want to know if you like anyone. Like right now. Liking someone is completely different from having a boyfriend or girlfriend."

"But don't you have to like someone to be their boyfriend or girlfriend?"

"Just answer the question."

She waited for a 'no' but when she heard none she gasped. Sitting up on her branch, she looked over to where he was sitting, emotionless. "Aieee! Who is it? Who is it?" she asked. She was acting all excited like a three year old at the fair.

Gaara turned to face her. "It's you, Sakura." And with that he leaned forward and started kissing her senseless.

Back to reality.

"Gaara tell me! Please?" she begged, giving her best puppy dog eyes. Gaara turned away. "no." he said sternly.

"Aw, please? Please?" she said, standing so she was at eye level with him. He turned back around. "I said n-" Oh god, they were really close. Her face was barely an inch from his. Her smile faded into a cute pout. "Fine!" she said pulling back a little. "Don't tell me! I could give you valuable advice on how to get the girl, but noooooooo!" Gaara kept his face stern. When she saw her bribery didn't work she leaned forward a little more. Gaara's eyes widened; they were even closer than before. She batted her beautiful eyelashes. "Please?"

"I-I…oh shit!" she had leaned in too far and Gaara slipped some off the branch. Luckily there was a smaller branch nearby that he quickly grabbed onto. Only his feet were hanging on the branch he had previously been sitting on, and he swung there stupidly with both hands holding onto the small branch for dear life. He glared at her.

"Sorry!" she called sweetly. After a bit of maneuvering Sakura was able to help pull him back up on the big branch. He just glared and turned his back on her. She whimpered. "You're not mad at me are you?" she asked carefully. He turned around to say a very defiant 'YES!' but when he saw her face he sighed and said, "hn, no."

She smiled again. "So what do you wanna talk about now?"

"I don't feel like talking anymore." He said turning back to face the other direction.

"But you just did."

"Shut up."

"Look you did again!"

"Grr!"

"Does growling count as talking?"

"OH FOR CHRIST'S SAKE!"

"Look you did again!"

Thankfully Neji and Hinata showed up, followed by Gaara's siblings and Kiba. Naruto showed up a little later, and Shikamaru simply wandered in when no one was looking. Had it not been for their appearances Gaara swore he would've tackled Sakura and put duct tape over her mouth. He began to doubt his crush on her, but when he heard her laugh and saw her smile his heart immediately melted again. _Oh well_ he thought.

(Nothing happened that day so let's skip ahead to when school gets out, shall we?)

Ten Ten, Hinata, and Sakura walked out together. They were joined by Temari and Kankuro and then later the rest of the guys. Sakura immediately wandered over to Gaara's side, and the group raised their eyebrows but said nothing. The all parted and said their goodbyes, agreeing to meet back at Gaara, Kankuro, and Temari's house at five. Soon the only two left of the group were Sakura and Gaara. They started walking silently towards his bike, until they were interrupted.

"Hey forehead girl!" Sakura turned around and mentally slapped herself for answering to such a name. Gaara turned around too, hands shoved in his pockets. Ino strode toward them, with a very smug expression.

"Hey!" she said to Sakura. "You've been avoiding me, you little bitch. Are you afraid to have a fight with me again because you know I'll win?"

Sakura shrugged. "I haven't been avoiding you. I guess I just don't care enough about you to notice your completely unnecessary rantings about Sasuke and the whole damn world. And as far as I know, I don't think I could expect you to lay a finger on me in a fight. You'd be out cold before you took a swing." She said, slapping on her own smile. Ino glared.

"Don't think I haven't noticed they way people are looking at you now, and the way Sasuke asked you out! They say you look better than me. You had better go back to your old self quick or else I will hurt you!" She was threatening Sakura now. Gaara glanced at Sakura to see what she would do, but she only smirked and put her hands on her hips defiantly.

"You know Ino, if I'm better than you, it's not because I try, and I doubt you would do such a thing. You're scared of me and that's why you go behind my back and do low down things like stab my car tires because you wouldn't be able to do anything to me in a fight. And by the way, I'm glad you did that to my car because I got to spend time with the hottest and most badass guy alive (Gaara did a double take at that). Better than Sasuke even." Sakura sneered. Ino's face became a shade of red. "Oh, and about Sasuke," Sakura said scowling. "He's the most repulsive guy I've ever met. It's absolutely disgusting. I can see why you would like him though."

"Don't you ever insult Sasuke!" Ino shrieked, lunging forward. She raised her hand to slap Sakura, but Gaara's hand shot up, caught it, and twisted her wrist. Ino whimpered in pain and shot a nasty glare to Sakura. "You just wait till I catch you without you're bodyguard here." Gaara released her wrist with a small shove and turned to walk away. Sakura started to do the same, but Ino followed her a few steps. Sakura whipped around and gave Ino a swift punch in the cheek; the force knocked her to the ground.

"That's why you wouldn't win in a fight against me. You'd be out cold before you could take a swing. I told you so!" Sakura said to the fuming Ino. Gaara just stared at her, then at Ino, and then back to Sakura again. When Sakura turned back around to leave, Gaara stood there in shock for a moment before turning and walking with her. As soon as they were out of earshot of Ino, Gaara grabbed Sakura's shoulders and spun her around to face him. He saw that she had really been angry and only hiding behind a smile.

"Where did you learn to punch like that?" he asked.

She shrugged. "My mom made me take self defense classes for like, ever."

He nodded, but then his eyes narrowed. "Why did you say that stuff about me?"

Sakura turned pink. "Uh, well…I…knew it would piss her off?" She said it like a question, and it made Gaara wonder, but he said nothing about it. They continued on to his bike, and after climbing on and putting on their helmets they were off. As they were leaving the parking lot, Sakura saw Ino stomping furiously to her car. She stopped and stared in shock at Sakura on the back of a motorcycle. Sakura laughed at her reaction and slipped one of her arms out to wave to the traumatized girl. Gaara popped a wheelie for dramatic effect and Ino's jaw dropped in utter shock and anger. Sakura's laughter was drowned out by the sound of the bike and she quickly wrapped her arms back around Gaara so as not to fall off once they gathered speed. He went this way and that way and finally made it to the auto shop. Sakura ran inside to pay.

Gaara thought about all that had happened. Why would sakura say that stuff about him? Her excuse was that it was to make Ino mad, but it wasn't very convincing. And she had blushed when she said it. Did she really think it was that cool? He inwardly smirked with pride, only to have his contemplation interrupted by a furious sakura storming out the auto shop door.

"Those idiots!" she shouted angrily, walking up to Gaara. He arched an eyebrow, as if to ask what was wrong. She continued. "They didn't have the right size tires and they're still waiting for the next delivery. Can you believe that? What kind of auto shop doesn't carry all the right sizes for everything? Its just stupidity!" She leaned up against the bike. Gaara said nothing. "Gaara?" she asked motioning to the bike. "Could I—"

He nodded and handed her the helmet. "You know," he said. "I don't usually go around chauffeuring people but I guess it's fine." He straddled the bike.

"I feel awful really," she said. "I really could find other ways to get around if you'd rather." She said looking away. He smirked.

"But I thought you liked being around the hottest and most badass guy alive." Sakura became a deep shade of pink and she put on the helmet to hide it.

"Well I suppose you don't mind my hugging you from behind, right? Because if you did I'm sure I would've noticed." It was muffled through the helmet. He pulled on his own helmet and shrugged. He prayed to the heavens that she hadn't seen his reddening cheeks. Sakura got behind him and wrapped her arms around him, laying her head on his back. It felt strange and foreign to Gaara, but he liked it, and soon they were on the road again, making their way to Gaara's house.

When they got there, it was a little bit past five, so almost everyone looked out at their arrival. They all stared in shock as they watched Sakura climb off the back of _Gaara's_ motorcycle. Looking at each of their faces all Sakura could read was 'WTF?'. She turned a slight pink and handed Gaara the helmet, waiting for him. When he had kicked the stand and put the helmets away he made his way up to the house. Sakura followed politely behind him. She complemented his house and he merely shrugged. Once they got inside they were greeted by 'hey!'s and 'where were you?'s. Gaara waited for Sakura to explain before they all went down some stairs into a basement.

This was Sakura's first time in Temari, Gaara, and Kankuro's house. To be honest it was a little messy, but it was homey and welcoming. Reaching the basement, Sakura looked around. It was the ideal lounge with futons, a big comfy couch, bean bag chairs, a mini-fridge, and a microwave. There was a big TV and some game stations in one corner, and in the other corner was a small stage like area, with two electric, one bass, and a drum set, patiently awaiting use. "Alright guys, let's get to practice." Gaara said, leading Naruto, Shikamaru, and Neji over to the instruments. Sakura sat down happily between Kiba and Ten Ten. Akamaru roamed around the floor, sniffing this and that. Temari popped some food in the microwave for them to eat. Kankuro plugged in the game station and challenged Kiba to a game. He accepted while Hinata took his now abandoned seat and pulled out a book. Ten Ten started talking down her buns and Sakura asked to play with her hair. Ten Ten agreed and so the fun began.


	5. Chapter 5

Disclaimer: dont own naruto, good charlotte, or clay aiken (strange combination...i know)

olly: yay! thanks to everyone who likes my story! sorry if its really familiar to other highschool fics y'all have read.love my reviewers!

okiedokie then: chapter 5...kinda long...

my random friend in the back ground: kinda long?!?!?

olly: Fine! Really long...anyways hope you like it!

random friend: i hope so...

olly: -glares at random friend-

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"I say we should play one of our best songs for Sakura-chan!" yelled Naruto from behind the drums. The others nodded and got their instruments ready. Sakura smiled at them but then continued brushing Ten Ten's hair. Soon after the music started and she heard Gaara voice. This was there song.

_Hard days made me_

_Hard nights shaped me_

_I don't know they somehow saved me_

_And I know I'm making something_

_Out of this life they call nothing_

_I take what I want_

_Take what I need_

_You say it's wrong_

_But it's right for me_

_I won't look down_

_Won't say I'm sorry_

_I know that only God can judge me_

_And if I make it through today_

_Will tomorrow be the same?_

_Am I just running I place?_

_If I stumble and I fall_

_Should I get up and carry on_

_Or will it all just be the same?_

_Cause I'm young and I'm hopeless_

_I'm lost and I know this_

_I'm going nowhere fast that's what they say_

_I'm troublesome, I've fallen_

_I'm angry at my father_

_It's me against this world and I don't care_

_I don't care_

_No one in this industry_

_Understands the life I lead_

_When I sing about my past_

_It's not a gimmick, not an act_

_These critics and these trust fund kids_

_Try to tell me what punk is_

_But when I see them on the _

_Street they got nothing to say_

_And if I make it through today_

_Will tomorrow be the same?_

_Am I just running in place?_

_If I stumble and I fall_

_Should I get up and carry on_

_Or will it all just be the same?_

_Cause I'm young and I'm hopeless_

_I'm lost I know this_

_I'm going nowhere fast that's what they say_

_I'm troublesome I've fallen_

_I'm angry at my father_

_It's me against this world and I don't care_

_I don't care._

The music ended and Sakura clapped with all the enthusiasm a one-person applause could muster. "That was great you guys!" she said smiling to them. "That's a cool song. Which one of you wrote it?" Gaara raised a hand lazily but Naruto broke in. "he wrote it, but Shikamaru put in the 'troublesome'." Sakura giggled. "That's great. Hey do you like Ten Ten's hair?" she asked having finally finished her friend's hair. Everyone looked over to see Ten Ten's usual two buns pulled into one bun in the back. It was held together loosely with two random pencils that were crossed. A few hairs were hanging around her face, making her look much more feminine. They all complemented it, except for Neji who couldn't stop staring. Ten Ten blushed and said, "Thanks."

"Hey Sakura!" shouted Naruto. He really was loud.

"Yeah?" she asked.

"Didn't you say that you could sing?" he asked eyeing her evilly. Sakura looked around to find that everyone was looking at her (except for Kankuro who was killing Kiba's video game person while he wasn't looking).

"Well I suppose I did," she said shyly, feeling uncomfortable under everyone's gaze.

"Why don't you sing for us?" Neji said, putting his guitar down. Sakura went pink and shook her head 'no'. She didn't want to sing in front of them. What if she messed up or went higher than she was supposed to or—

Her train of thought was cut off by Hinata. "Don't worry, S-Sakura. You'll do fine. I-It's just us. We won't judge you." Hinata gave her a warm smile and Sakura awed at how she had only barely stuttered when talking. She looked around the room.

"Well alright." She said. They all smiled (except for the emotionless three: Gaara, Neji, and Shikamaru) as she walked up to the microphone. It wasn't that big of a room, so they kept the mic on low. She remembered a song from a long time ago that she had always thought went good with her voice. She took a moment to remember the lyrics but then she started to sing. It was hard without the music, but her melodic voice was able to keep the tune. This is what she sang:

_You can try __to__ hide away_

_From every drop of rain_

_That's hanging over you_

_And you can say it's all a waste_

_Lost your time and space_

_There's nothing left __to__ lose_

_Like a broken angel on the ground_

_Like a symphony without a sound_

_Turn around_

_Everything you are_

_Everywhere you've been_

_The sinner and the saint_

_That fight the battle within_

_Every place you go_

_Everybody knows_

_Shadows fall across the sun sometimes_

_Shine_

_You are gonna shine_

_In the mirror of your soul_

_I know that you know_

_You are not forsaken_

_Hey butterfly, open up your weary eyes_

_And realize it's a trip we're taking_

_And the world will turn around again_

_And your shattered heart is gonna mend_

_In the end_

_Everything you are_

_Everywhere you've been_

_The sinner and the saint_

_That fight the battle within_

_Every place you go_

_Everybody knows_

_Shadows fall across the sun sometimes_

_Shine_

_You are gonna shine_

_Baby, let's go riding on shooting stars (stars)_

_(You are gonna shine)_

_Watch the crescent moon smile __to__ your heart (__to__ your heart)_

_(Shine)_

_You are going __to__ shine_

_(Shine)_

_You are going __to__ shine_

_Everything you are_

_Everywhere you've been_

_The sinner and the saint_

_That fight the battle within_

_Every place you go_

_Everybody knows_

_Shadows fall across the sun sometimes_

_Shine_

_Everything you are (everything you are)_

_Everywhere you've been (everywhere you've been)_

_The sinner and the saint (Oh)_

_That fight the battle within (fight the battle within)_

_Every place you go (everywhere you go)_

_Everybody knows (everybody knows)_

_Shadows fall across the sun sometimes_

_Shine_

_You are gonna shine_

She finished and looked at her friends. They all stared at her. Even Kankuro had looked up from his game. Gaara peered at her with his emerald orbs. Sakura took their silence the wrong way. "W-Was it really that bad?" she asked, afraid of their answer. Temari lunged forward.

"No Sakura! That was beautiful! I haven't heard someone sing like that since…since…" she couldn't think. Sakura blushed.

"Really?" she asked. They all nodded. She blushed harder. "Thanks."

"You wanna join our band?" Naruto blurted out. Gaara hit him on the back of the head. "I told you we weren't deciding on that yet, dumbass!" he said. Naruto rubbed his now forming bump. "But Gaara she's so good!" he whined.

"It's alright, Naruto." Sakura said. "I wouldn't know what to say anyway." Naruto pouted, but then his short attention span got the better of him. "Hey let's play a game!" he said. Neji scowled. "Dude, do we look like six-year-olds to you?" he asked knocking poor Naruto on the back of the head again. The fox boy whimpered, holding his aching head.

"We could play a game for older people," Kiba said wagging his eyebrow suggestively. Ten Ten punched him in the arm. "Kiba, you perv!" she said. Temari shrugged. "I don't think it's bad idea. I'm actually kind of bored." Kankuro stood up. "Let's mix some games together and make a new one then."

"Spin the bottle, truth or dare, and seven minutes in heaven." Everyone turned to look at the speaker. It was Shikamaru, looking bored as ever with his arms crossed. Seeing their bewildered expressions he shrugged and said, "What?" They all shrugged.

Naruto stood up, and forgetting about his headache he said, "Ok. The way we play is someone spins the bottle and the person it lands on has a choice of doing a dare or doing seven minutes in heaven. The person who spun the bottle chooses who the victim has to kiss." Some of the girls blushed, but the shook it off and they all went to sit in a circle. Temari grabbed a glass bottle and washed it out. Before she sat it in the center she said. "Ok, this is just a game between us friends. The kissing is nothing else than making it interesting. It doesn't necessarily mean someone likes someone else. Everyone clear on that?" they all nodded. "And no pairing of the families!" she said setting the bottle in the center. She spun the bottle. It landed on Neji. "Neji, heaven or dare?" she asked. He hesitated a moment before shrugging and said, "heaven." The girls squealed.

"Really?" Temari continued. "Ok…you'll have seven minutes in heaven with…Ten Ten!"

Ten Ten squeaked and Neji just barely turned pink. "Yeah! Way to go Twenty!" Kankuro saluted her as the disappeared into a closet with Neji. They closed the door and set the timer. After seven minutes they banged on the door and Neji and Ten Ten emerged. Neji was smirking and Ten Ten was blushing madly. There were a few wolf whistles but then they continued with the game. Neji spun the bottle and it landed on Kankuro. "Ok," Neji said. "Heaven or dare?"

Kankuro shrugged. "dare." Neji thought a moment.

"Go give yourself a swirly." He said finally. Kankuro jumped up and they followed him to the bathroom. He got down on his knees and stuck his head in the toilet. The all laughed and made disgusted noises at the same time. His hand found the handle and he flushed it. They heard him gurgling and everyone but Gaara laughed out loud. When the swirling stopped Kankuro pulled his dripping head out of the water and shook it like a dog. The girls screamed as the water flew in their directions. Kankuro only laughed at them as he grabbed a towel. They all walked back and sat in the circle. Kankuro spun the bottle and it landed on Naruto. "Heaven!" the boy chirped before Kankuro could ask. Everyone looked at his fox grin before they all shrugged. "Ok," Kankuro said. "You go with Hinata."

Hinata turned red instantly. Neji's eyes narrowed in a glare towards Kankuro but then to Naruto who was still grinning stupidly. He gave him the 'you-do-anything-to-my-cousin-and-I'll-kill-you' look. Naruto only stood up and waited for Hinata to join him in the closet. Once they were both inside, Temari locked the door and set the timer. Neji glared at anything and everything for the entire seven minutes. When the alarm went off they banged on the door and out stepped a very red Hinata and a grinning Naruto.

Naruto stayed a good distance away from Neji as he made his way back to the circle. He spun the bottle and it landed on Shikamaru. The boy only rolled his eyes and muttered, "Troublesome". Naruto frowned.

"Well fine then, if you won't pick then I'll pick for you. Seven minutes in heaven with Temari." Naruto said trying to pick up Shikamaru off the floor. He closed the door behind him and Temari and locked it. They set the timer and waited. Soon the seven minutes were up and Naruto went to retrieve the two. Temari stepped out looking very proud of herself and Shikamaru was blushing. He sat back down and lazily spun the bottle. It landed on Kiba. The dog boy chose dare.

"Ok," said Shikamaru thinking. "Strip down to your boxers and run outside around the house three times." Kiba took off his coat, shirt, pants, and shoes (making the girls yelp and hide their eyes) and they all went upstairs. He stepped outside and started sprinting. They watched him fly by three times before he stumbled back to the front door, out of breath. They gave him back his clothes and laughed at how stupid he looked. They made their way back downstairs.

Kiba took the bottle and spun it. It landed on…Sakura! "Sakura, heaven or dare?" Sakura thought about the previous dares, and was scared to think of what they might make her do, but she was afraid to choose heaven, because it would be her first kiss. Looking at all the guys individually she smiled. They were all nice guys, so she shouldn't have to worry.

"Um…heaven I guess." She chose heaven. No way to take it back now. Kiba grinned evilly.

"Ok, you have seven minutes in heaven with…Gaara!" (A/N gasp surprised?). Sakura yelped helplessly, but there was nothing she could do. She stood up slowly, and waited for Gaara to accompany her. Gaara however, was busy giving Kiba his infamous death glare. Finally he stood up and they walked to the closet. Kiba grinned and shut the door behind them. They heard the click of the lock. Sakura and Gaara stood in silence for a moment. It was a little hard to see in the closet, but he could tell that she was blushing madly. Sakura made a small whimpering noise. Gaara looked at her to ask what was wrong, but got the surprise of his life.

Sakura had leaned up and kissed him on the cheek. He stood there in shock a moment before his brain was able to fully register what had just happened. He looked at her. She mumbled a "sorry" and looked away in embarrassment. Gaara scowled. He wanted more.

Carefully he took her chin in his hand and made her look at him. Before she could say anything her speech was cut off by his lips on hers. She took a sharp intake of breath and it took her a moment to remember what was happening. It was a soft sweet kiss, just right to be her first. Honestly it was Gaara's first kiss too, but no one knew that, and he preferred to keep that to himself. Her arms wrapped around his neck and his hands rested on her waist. After a while they broke the kiss for air. She blushed and he smirked.

"That was my first kiss." She said quietly.

"I know. He said. "Do you regret it?" he echoed his words from that morning.

"No," she said, and kissed him again.

(Outside with everyone else)

"The seven minutes is up." Naruto called looking at the timer.

"Wait I have an idea!" Kiba said. "Dim the lights!" They all got his plan immediately and did as told. They inched over to the closet. It would be an absolute miracle if it worked. Carefully Kiba turned the lock so it wouldn't make too loud of a noise. He silently turned the knob and cracked the door open. Thanks to the dimmed lights, Sakura and Gaara couldn't tell a difference in their environment. They had their eyes closed, and were feverishly kissing each other. Gaara held Sakura tight around the waist and Sakura played with his blood red hair. Kiba silently cheered that his plan had worked, and the whole group watched as their two friends continued making out (A/N the pervs). Kankuro was fighting against the urge to cheer on his little brother, and the rest of the group gawked wondering where the hell Gaara had learned to kiss. Ten Ten and Temari were trying not to giggle and Naruto had to run away to keep from laughing out loud. Hinata scowled at all of them with beautiful white eyes. She carefully stood and silently shut the door, despite the others' silent protests. She frowned at them.

"This is wrong and unfair!" she whispered to them as she walked over and turned the lights up. "I'm ashamed of all of you!" she made a path through their disappointed faces and knocked politely on the door. "Your seven minutes is up!" she called. She turned back to the group. "If you lot say anything, I'll tell them the whole story so they can beat you up themselves." They all nodded and sat back in their circle. Hinata opened the door for Sakura and Gaara to come out. Sakura came out fist, blushing bright as ever, and Gaara came out second, smirking as Neji had done. The rest of the group made no sound whatsoever. Gaara arched an eyebrow but shrugged it off and they sat down.

They all decided they were tired of the game and the band went to work on their new song. Kankuro and Kiba picked up the game where they had left off (Kiba became very pissed when he learned that he had been killed three times since he had stopped playing). Temari brought in some popcorn and the four girls helped each other with homework. Before long they realized it was ten p.m. The band members put everything away and everyone started departing. Gaara was Sakura's ride home, so she waited patiently until he was ready to go. After everyone else had left Gaara strode over to his bike and waited for Sakura. As she sat behind him, Sakura heard Kankuro yell, "you two have fun!" he was waving stupidly and Temari's hand shot up to smack him in the back of the head, making him wince. Gaara revved his bike, and Sakura snapped back to reality. She pulled on the helmet and hugged Gaara around his middle, letting him know she was ready. The bike lunged forward and he made his way to Sakura's house.

Sakura saw her house ahead, and Gaara herd her say, "oh shit!" As he took a good look at her driveway he saw a man standing there waiting for them. It was her dad. He figured if he was ever going to get close to Sakura he would have to deal with her father sooner or later. He pulled up in front of the man and turned off his bike. Sakura was rigid with fear. Sakura's father glared at him questioningly, as if asking how this boy had the nerve to pull up on a motorcycle with his daughter clinging onto this strange boy's back.

Gaara looked at Sakura, who looked at her father before carefully releasing her hold on Gaara's middle. She removed her helmet, as did Gaara, and looked at her father. "Um…hi daddy." She said quietly trying to smile. Gaara got off the bike and help Sakura off, because she was too afraid to move.

"Who the hell is this? Why were you out so late with him? Why are you riding a motorcycle? You think I will stand for this?" her father's questions started pouring out as he glared at the blank faced Gaara.

"Daddy this is…" Sakura started quietly.

"Be quiet Sakura! I want his boy to tell me himself. How the hell did you figure it would fine and dandy with me if you just started carting my daughter around on the back of motorcycle?" he said turning around and talking to Gaara again. "And why are you dressed like some type of devil child or something with those black eyes. I—"

"sir." Gaara said. Both Sakura and her father froze. Gaara held and outstretched hand, waiting for her dad to shake it. "My name is Sabaku no Gaara. We were out late with the rest of our friends working with music and homework." Gaara was answering all of Sakura's dad's questions one by one, still holding out his hand. "Sakura's car repair has been delayed so I offered to give her a ride home. This motorcycle is the only means of transportation that I can support. Sir I honestly didn't expect you to be happy with the fact that we were riding my bike, but it's all I can offer. With all due respect, sir, I am not a devil child and the black rings around my eyes are from lack of sleep because I'm an insomniac. Please forgive me for driving off so suddenly this morning. I can tell I've left you with a lot of questions."

Sakura nearly fainted. She had never heard Gaara talk so much at once. He had chosen his words carefully, so as not to upset Sakura's dad. Gaara had realized after their seven minutes in heaven that he really liked Sakura, and wanted to become even closer to her. The last thing he needed was to be on bad terms with her father. Her dad just stared at him with his glare, only to be faced back with Gaara's blank expression. He didn't like the look of him, motorcycle, black clothes, tattoo on his forehead. How did he even have a tattoo? He wasn't eighteen, was he? He was the perfect picture of someone you try to keep your children away from, but Gaara kept his hand outstretched. Sakura's father was a natural gentleman. He sighed and took Gaara's hand. Sakura just stared. Had her father just accepted Gaara?

"So what is your relationship with my daughter?" Sakura sweat dropped. Nope. He hadn't accepted Gaara, but at least he was less angry. Gaara let his hand drop.

"We're just friends, sir." Gaara said.

"Well we've only known each other for two weeks, dad. What did you think he was my boyfriend or something?" Both men turned to look at Sakura. She had folded her arms and was looking at her dad accusingly. Her comment pained Gaara's heart, but it was true, so he ignored it.

"Music and homework, you say?" Sakura's dad asked, turning to face Gaara again. Gaara nodded. "I play in a band, and Sakura sang for us. You should be very proud of her. She has the most beautiful voice." He said turning back to Sakura and nodding. It may have been just to be more personal to her dad, but Sakura still blushed. Gaara's complement worked like magic. Sakura's dad smiled and nodded.

"Yes she does have a pretty voice doesn't she?" he said, standing straight with pride. Sakura was getting fed up with this 'manly' conversation. She sighed lightly, but Gaara caught it.

"With all due respect, sir, I'm expected back at home, so I'll be leaving, now. Sakura, I'll see you tomorrow morning. Remember, seven o'clock." Gaara said, climbing onto his bike. He gave a final nod to Sakura and her father and drove off.

"See dad, isn't he nice?" she asked her father. He scowled and murmured, "I suppose he's a nice boy. Very respectful," he looked at her. "What did he mean, see you at seven tomorrow morning?" he had already guessed the answer, but Sakura said it anyway.

"Oh um, because my car is still at the auto shop, so he's coming back in the morning to take me to school. You know, like he did today." She looked away shyly, because she knew her father would be mad.

He was. "Sakura! What do you mean? He'll be taking you to school on that motorcycle again? I don't trust him."

"But dad! How can you not trust him? You met him, and you saw how respectful he was. You _insulted_ him, and he still took it politely. Gaara may look bad, but he's really not!" Sakura said, defending her new found friend. Her dad only shook his head.

"Sakura one polite meeting is not enough to convince me that he isn't dangerous in at least one way or another. I want you to call him and say that I will take you to school tomorrow, understand?" he looked her in the eye. Sakura couldn't believe that after Gaara was so polite her dad wouldn't accept him.

"Dad I don't have his phone number, but that's not the point. I can't believe after he was so respectful to you, you won't even think about accepting him. He went out of his way to take me to the auto shop and then bring me home. And he was so polite. How can you think he's like that?" she turned away. "Besides, you wouldn't be able to take me anyway because of your oh-so-important job. You wouldn't have time for me. You never do, so what does it matter? He's coming to get me in the morning and that's that." Sakura's eyes were watering by now, and she ran upstairs to her room.

It was something she usually liked to keep to herself, but every now and again, it would come out. Both of her parents worked hard hours at work, and were hardly ever around to be there for her. In the mornings she always had to go to school, and in the evenings she usually ended up going to bed before either of them got home. Sakura knew they loved her, but sometimes she felt forgotten. Occasionally her father might get off early and they would do something together, or her mother would take Sakura shopping once in a while, but for the most part she never saw them. Sakura had learned to cook, clean, and take care of herself, but it didn't help with her loneliness. That was the reason Sakura had been so grateful for friends, because she had someone to share her time with. She sighed and fell on her bed, instantly falling asleep.

Gaara pulled into his driveway. He decided not to tell Temari or Kankuro about his meeting with Sakura's father. He had been forced to use _proper grammar_. It wasn't something Gaara liked to use very often. It made him feel like he had to try too hard to impress. He sighed. He had done it for Sakura. If he was ever going to get any closer to Sakura the last thing he needed was to be on bad terms with her father.

He entered his house and made his way to the kitchen. He grabbed a soda and started towards his room. Gaara passed by the basement door and heard voices from downstairs. He recognized them as belonging to his siblings and smirked. They were most likely downstairs cleaning. If he remained quiet they wouldn't be able to make him help. He started to walk away, happy to get out of house work, when something caught his attention. It was Temari's voice.

"_We are not going to tell him, got it?" _Gaara stopped, and listened more intently. Tell who what? He inched closer to the door.

"_But I wanna know where the hell he learned to kiss!" _It was Kankuro that time. Gaara was confused. Were they talking about him?

"_No, we can't ask him. He deserves a little something personal to keep to himself. It wouldn't be fair to him if we started invading his privacy with questions like that." _Temari argued.

"_But Temari, the guy's the most secretive person we know. I can't ask him that one question?" _Kankuro asked.

"_No, asking him that would be like telling him the whole thing. 'Oh hey Gaara, we opened the door during your seven minutes in heaven and we saw you and Sakura making out. By the way, where'd you learn to kiss?' Kankuro, he'd kill us!" _Temari shot back. Gaara was frozen. His sister's words echoed over and over in his head. They did what? No that was impossible. How could Sakura and him not have noticed? He suddenly felt something dripping on his foot. He looked down to see that his fist had clenched so tight around the soda that he had punctured it and it was dripping freely. Gaara shook his head. They…they must be joking. He chucked the soda can in a nearby trash can and made his way to his room.

Shutting the door behind him, Gaara took of his shirt and flopped on his bed. Why did he feel this way? All he could think about was Sakura. Her hair, her lips, her smile, her eyes. He rubbed his eyes. What was wrong with him? He was fully aware he had a crush, but he felt there was something more and he couldn't figure it out. He knew the only way he would found out is by confronting her, but how? He turned on his side and stared at his wall. He had all night to plan.

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olly: phew! looooooooooong!

friend in background: its finally over!!!

olly: shut up! -smiles sweetly at readers- please review!

friend in background: it better be a good review...or i'll ... uhh -thinks of something bad-

olly: oo'


	6. Chapter 6

disclaimer: don't own naruto

olly: characters may be OOC at times, FORGIVE ME!! -tears-

friend in background: be creepy!

olly: no.

friend in background: -pouts and eats cocnut candy while making disgusted faces- i hate coconut!

olly: oo'' you're an idiot...anyways, CHAPTER 5!!!

friend: -- ...6...

olly: 6!!!!!!1!

Sakura hit her alarm clock again and again before she finally realized the beeping wasn't going to stop. She wearily opened her eyes. Her mind took a moment to take in the sound before she gasped and checked the time. 6:36. _shit!_ She thought rushing into her bathroom. _I'm so late!_ She stripped down and stepped into her shower. To save time she decided to brush her teeth in the shower, cursed at herself for putting toothpaste in her hair, rinsed it out, washed her hair twice, rushed out, dried off, and ran out to pick some clothes. As she checked the clock again (which was 6:47) she cursed and decided maybe just grabbing the first things of the rack would be fine. As she took a glance in the mirror she saw it wasn't too bad. Black capris like Ten Ten's, a grey shirt with the Chinese character for 'love' on it, and her black hoodie. She rushed out the front door without a good-bye to her parents, only to see Gaara already waiting for her. She cursed a string of words at herself as she ran to him with her bag.

"I'm so sorry Gaara. I really didn't want to be late." She said, shoving her bag into the side bag. He smirked. He could tell that she had been rushing.

"actually, I'm early. You had another five minutes." She looked at him like 'wtf?' and checked her cell phone, seeing it was 6:55. She muttered an "oh" and scowled at the ground.

Gaara chuckled and looked her over, not missing the character on her shirt—the same one as his tattoo. Did it mean something? He shook his head, smirking at her aggravated expression.

"I like your shirt." he said with a smirk. She looked up from her frustrated contemplation of all the things she could've done with her extra five minutes. As his comment circled through her head, she looked down at her shirt. Sakura blushed as Gaara straddled his bike and handed her a helmet. She hadn't really noticed the symbol. She shrugged it off and climbed on behind him. For a split second Gaara allowed himself to enjoy her touch but then let the bike plunge forward.

Gaara pulled into his usual parking spot and put away their helmets. Sakura walked wearily from the bike and they made their way to the tree. Gaara immediately pulled himself into the tree, and Sakura followed example. She quickly became bored with the silence.

"how come you like to come here so early?" She asked.

"I like this tree." He said simply. "If I'm not here, the other guys will try to take it." He put his hands behind his head, thankful that she had started a conversation rather than him. He frowned, however, when she only sighed and didn't say anything else. Arching an eyebrow he asked, "what's wrong?"

She shrugged and answered. "nothing." He frowned. She usually wouldn't shut up, and now she was completely silent. Was it something that he had done?

"Don't lie to me." He said with a scowl. "It's not a smart thing to do." She looked down. "Was it something I did?" he asked sternly.

"Well, yes." She said quietly. Dammit! It was like he was always finding ways to screw up people's lives. "But it wasn't a bad thing." He looked at her in curiosity and she continued. "I was really afraid that my dad would restrict me from seeing you, or any of the guys for that matter, but the way you spoke to him, all polite? He really acted different from whenever I've seen him around guys before. But he still didn't trust you, and it brought up the subject of how I never saw him around anyway. I cried, but it was a good thing. I haven't let that out for years now, and it made me feel a little less stressed. I know my parents love me, but sometimes it's like I have to remind them that I'm not just a little kid anymore. See if you hadn't spoken to him, I would still feel forgotten." She chuckled. "So thanks." Her words were still running through his mind as she leaned up and kissed him on the cheek. He was so surprised that he could've fallen out of the tree right then. He didn't, because Gaara's cool like that, but still. It took him an entire two minutes to bring his head back together before he turned to her.

"Err, you're welcome." He said. She giggled and finally smiled a real smile for the first time that morning. It made his heart melt. He hadn't known of her troubles at home. She always hid behind her beautiful smile. A frown showed on his lips. He had been worried about his problems, when she had her own. He couldn't ask her about his feelings. She was busy dealing with her own life. He sighed. Maybe later.

They sat in silence for a while, and soon their friends arrived. They talked about the band practice and decided that it had been really fun. Everyone agreed that they should do it again, and along with the practice talk came the subject of Truth or Seven Minutes.

"Hey Ten Ten, how'd it go with you and Neji?" asked Temari very loudly. Ten Ten turned pink and Neji looked at her. She glared at the beaming Temari and crossed her arms.

"Well what about you and Shikamaru?" she asked with a devilish grin. Shikamaru stumbled from his perfectly stable position. Temari's eyes widened slightly, but she closed them and crossed her own arms.

"It was good actually."

Shikamaru choked and fell backward. She only shrugged and continued. "But don't ask a question in which you can't answer yourself, Ten Ten. You know it's rude to answer a question with a question." Neji arched an eyebrow and glanced to Ten Ten. She was pink and giving Temari an 'if-only-i-had-my-bow-and-arrows' kind of glare.

"It was fine." Neji said, shoving his hands into his pockets. They all stared him as he shrugged and turned away from Ten Ten to prevent the growing heat in his cheeks from rising. Ten Ten on the other hand looked like she might faint. Kiba glanced from Ten Ten to Neji to Ten Ten to Neji, a big grin forming as he did so. Neji had his hands in his pockets, staring at the ground. Ten Ten was facing away from him with her arms crossed, apparently staring at a random spot on a tree root. He decided to lighten the tension, or so he thought.

"Well hey! What about Hinata and Naruto?" he asked, turning to the white eyed girl. She became red and stared at him in horror. Neji's attention snapped up immediately. He glared at the blonde boy who was grinning proudly and shuffling around on his feet. Neji was secretly daring Naruto to say anything at all about his cousin.

Naruto saw Neji's glare but threw an arm around Hinata's shoulder anyway. Neji's eyes widened in shock and Hinata stared at Naruto, becoming redder and redder by the second.

"Well it was my first kiss!" Naruto said, smiling at Hinata. She blinked repeatedly. Neji's eye twitched.

"Dude that's not something you just say out loud." Kankuro explained, arching an eyebrow at the blonde. Naruto shrugged.

"Well I just meant I was glad it was Hinata." The fox boy said, grinning at the purple haired girl. She blinked again and gave him a small smile in return.

"You…actually…kissed…my cousin?" came Neji's voice. The others wondered why he hadn't realized that before. Naruto turned back to the white eyed boy, who was twitching uncontrollably. Neji's face was red with anger. The blonde boy's arm quickly retreated from its comfortable place around Hinata's shoulder before he bolted away from the tree, Neji hot on his heels, while the rest of the group laughed at them (except Hinata, who kind of called out for them to stop). After a few minutes Neji outsmarted Naruto and tackled him, giving him a swift punch to side as he did so. Naruto coughed and grabbed his side. He looked weakly at the Hyuuga before standing up and smiling, which only made Neji madder.

"p-please stop!" yelled Hinata. "Neji! D-don't!" Both men looked at the white eyed girl, then at each other. Neji shoved his hands in his pockets and walked over to Hinata, standing protectively beside her. Naruto shuffled slowly over, watching Neji the entire time. The rest of the group chuckled lightly at them, but then Kankuro decided to continue the conversation.

"Ok, so we've covered Neji and Ten Ten, Temari and Shikamaru, Naruto and Hinata (Neji cringed at this), so all that's left is Sakura and Gaara." Temari smacked her brother in the head, while glaring at him as if to say 'I-told-you-we-weren't-going-to-say-anything-about-that'. Kankuro only shrugged and looked up at Sakura. She blushed.

"What do you mean?" she asked innocently, hopping out of the tree. Gaara arched an eyebrow but otherwise didn't move. He secretly wanted to know her opinion, but wouldn't for the life of him let the other guys know. Kankuro glanced up to his brother but then back to Sakura.

"Well everyone else said whether or not they liked the kiss, you know, except for Kiba and me, but anyways, we want to know how your kiss was. Gaara's never done something like that before, at least not with us around, so,"

Sakura cut him off. "You want me to tell you how your brother kisses? That's disgusting!" Everyone laughed at the stone faced Kankuro. He glared at her.

"That's not what I meant," he said coolly.

"That's what it sounded like," said Sakura smirking. Honestly she didn't want to talk about the kiss, at least not with Gaara there. She had come to really like him, and still wasn't sure how it had happened. Still, if she said the wrong thing, the others would find out, as well as Gaara.

Naruto smirked at her. "Well what if we ask Gaara?" he said. Gaara arched an eyebrow again as the blonde pulled himself up into the tree branch beside him. Naruto knew he wouldn't get much out of the red head, but he never passed up a chance to embarrass his friend.

"So how bout it Gaara? Is Sakura a good kisser?" Naruto said, flashing his biggest fox smile, eyes closed and all. Gaara glared at the blonde who was perched very carefully on the branch. One slip and he would fall. Gaara took advantage of that fact.

It was the second punch Naruto had received that morning, except this one was aimed for his forehead. He fell from the tree, hitting the ground hard on his back. Hinata ran over to him and helped him to his feet.

"Naruto I think it's best if you just keep your mouth shut for the rest of the morning. Otherwise your life may be at risk," Ten Ten said, smiling at the breathless Naruto. Hinata looked at Naruto in pity but then turned up to Gaara.

"That was a little harsh!" she said to him. Gaara only shrugged. Naruto gained his breath back and thanked Hinata with a smile. She blushed and smiled, but was then pulled back by Neji. Naruto looked angrily and Gaara and started to say something, but then thought about Ten Ten's comment and remained silent. However, when Sakura said aloud what he was thinking, everyone stared in awkward shock.

"Is your refusal to answer supposed to imply that I'm not a good kisser?" the pink haired girl asked hotly, looking at Gaara with her arms crossed. He blinked at her in shock but then answered, "No."

Sakura blushed and almost asked something else, but was cut off as the school bell rang. She was secretly happy that this happened (A/N now would be the perfect time to say "saved by the bell" lol). They all went inside without a word.

When school let out, Sakura walked out with Hinata and Ten Ten. They met the rest of the group outside. Nobody brought the practice back up, for Naruto's sake. Gaara soon became bored with that ramblings about school, so he picked up his bag and stood. Sakura looked up at him from her conversation with Ten Ten. "Are we leaving?" she asked him. He nodded and stated walking away. She raised an eyebrow, but then called good-byes to her friends before hurrying after him. They made a beeline to his motorcycle and got ready to leave.

"Hey Gaara," Sakura said, stuffing her bag in the side bag. "About this morning, I-" She had a helmet handed to her. Gaara was already straddling the bike. She sighed. "Do you think we could go by the auto shop, since we're leaving this early?" she asked, pulling the helmet over her head. Gaara shook his head. She wondered why he was being so distant all of a sudden. Had what she said that morning caused him to act like this? At first Sakura felt a little hurt, but then she scowled. He always seemed to do that. Act like a friend then go back to being all isolated again. She sighed and climbed on behind him, wrapping her arms around his middle as she did so.

Gaara took off, making his way towards the road. Sakura had already memorized the route from the school to her house, and almost didn't notice when he made a certain turn right, instead of left. Gaara felt her arms stiffen around him, but there was no way to explain what he doing at the moment, so he ignored it. Sakura thought about pulling out her arm and whacking him in the head for him too pull over, but decided against it, because it was possible the shock might result in him crashing (not to mention no one hit Gaara, unless they had a death wish). Gaara was actually surprised when he felt her relax a little. Sakura trusted Gaara, no matter how distant he might become sometimes. She was very curious as to where this mysterious man was taking her, but she just decided to wait and find out.

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olly: yay! another chapter! so where are they going? you'll have to wait for the next chapter. sorry for the delay, been busy at school...

friend in background: -grabs random black cape and dances to Phantom of the Opera in her own little world-

olly: yeah...uhh...

friend: the PHAN-tom of the Op-er-a is here! -runs around like a crazy person while making swishy sounds-

olly: i'm friends with you...WHY?

friend: i'm fun! true dat, true dat. -laughs at self-

olly: forehead/desk

PLEASE REVIEW!!! YOUR COMMENTS MEAN SO MUCH TO ME!!!(friend: DON'T FORGET ABOUT ME!)


	7. Chapter 7

AHH! I'm back! I'm so so so so so so so so so sorry! I finally gave up on trying to convince mi madre to talk to the internet people, so now here I am, uploading chapters at school and trying not to get caught (we're not supposed to use the internet at school except for projects)……(and on that note, I would actually like to point out that I look at this (("this" meaning fanfiction)) as a personal project, and my reviewers are my graders). Anyways, I apologize for the long wait, and I uploaded two chapters this time to make up for it. One is longer than usual so I hope that'll be enough to save me from the murderous reviewers screaming at me to update. Love y'all!

--Olly

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Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.

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After about ten minutes of driving Gaara pulled into a small shopping center. There weren't any big stores, only a video game shop, a tattoo parlor, and a place called "By The Artist's Hand". It looked like it might be an art store of some kind. A large man with lots of tattoos and big white hair was standing outside the tattoo parlor as Gaara pulled up and turned off his bike. The large man smiled and threw down the cigarette he had previously been taking drags on as Gaara pulled off his helmet.

"Well hello there, Gaara-san. It's been a while." He said. Gaara only nodded in response. Sakura pulled off her helmet as well, and the large man eyed her with a smile. "Oh-ho, who's your friend?" he said, his smile turning into a smirk. Sakura narrowed her eyes in the man's direction, but at the same time moved a little bit behind Gaara, to use him like a shield from the stranger.

"Touch her and die, Jiraiya." Gaara said coolly. Jiraiya held up his hands in a defensive way. "No, no, Gaara! I was just wondering if the pretty girl would like a tattoo. Perhaps one to match yours? You two love birds!" He started laughing uncontrollably. Gaara glared at him, but didn't miss Sakura's small blush.

"Shut up you old idiot." Gaara said. Jiraiya immediately snapped out of his fit and glared at the green eyed boy.

"Hey watch what you say! I'm a famous novelist after all!" he said hotly, flipping his hair for dramatic effect. Gaara arched an eyebrow.

"Those porno books you write are hardly novels, and they're only famous to pervs like my English teacher." He said crossing his arms. Sakura's eyes widened.

"Kakashi-sensei?" she asked from behind. Gaara snapped back to attention. He had momentarily forgotten Sakura. He turned to look at her; she was looking confusedly at Jiraiya.

"Oh…erm, yeah." He said, answering her question. She arched an eyebrow at the white haired man.

"You write those books?" she asked him. He smiled proudly. "Yes miss I do. Do you like them?" he asked. Sakura made a gagging noise.

"No they're disgusting. Only perverts read them." She said crossing her arms. Gaara nearly laughed but instead changed it into a snort. He took her by the hand and led her towards the art shop, passing by the now very angry and red faced Jiraiya on the way.

Gaara pulled out a key and unlocked the door. Sakura stared in amazement. "You own this place?" she asked quickly. His face remained motionless. "No, I just happen to know the owner very well." He opened the door as Sakura's eyebrows furrowed. "You mean like a friend?" she asked. "You know you can call people friends. It won't kill you." Gaara smirked. "But he's not exactly a friend, so I have no need to use the word." Sakura rolled her eyes and followed him inside.

"So why'd you bring me here?" Sakura asked. It was dark inside, and she couldn't see anything. Gaara didn't answer. Instead he wandered off to turn on a light. The bright lights flickered on, and Sakura was left speechless. She gazed in astonishment

The walls were full of beautiful pictures. There black and white sketches, as well fully detailed drawings, color and all. It was beautiful. Sakura enjoyed drawing now and then, but none of these were like her small sketches. These were real works of art. She looked around her in a full circle. It was all so beautiful.

"Who drew all these?" she asked in a small voice while gliding over to examine some of the works more closely.

"Me." said Gaara. Sakura whipped around to face him. Her eyes were wide. "You?" she asked. He shrugged.

"Well other people too. I mostly do rough sketches, but I don't know where the colored ones come from. This place is for the young artists of Konoha. The guy who runs it had big hopes that it would be a big place people would come to for good artwork, but no such luck. That's why he just gave up and handed off the keys to some of the artists. He comes back now and again, because he still owns it, but that's pretty much it." Gaara finished, face still expressionless. Sakura looked at him thoughtfully. She murmured an 'I'm sorry' and Gaara shrugged again.

Sakura started moving slowly through the drawings, admiring certain things about this one, certain things about that one. She stopped at one in particular. It was a pencil sketch of dragon and a lion. The lion was lying calmly near the bottom of the canvas, while the dragon seemed to be flying over it. Ribbons of different shades were wrapped around the dragon and the lion, and Sakura guessed had it been colored, they would've been different shades of blue and red. She stared at it for a long while.

"You like that one, do you?" asked Gaara from behind. Sakura jumped from surprise but then turned to smile at him. "Yes, I do." She said. "Did you draw it, Gaara?" He smirked and gave a small nod. Sakura's smile grew and she turned back to it. "It's fantastic." She complemented it, while tracing her fingers lightly over the lines. Gaara watched as she did so; her touch was gentle, so careful. His gaze fixed on her in caring way, but was forced to move his eyes when she started walking again. She didn't give any of the other drawings the same kind of attention as she did to his, and Gaara felt a small twinge of pride. Sakura had an amazing knack for picking out his work, and would always gaze at them longer than others.

Sakura stopped in front of one and frowned. Her frown quickly turned into a huge smile and she called for Gaara to come over. He recognized the picture as one of his latest works and wandered slowly over. "what?" he asked. She chuckled. "This is everyone, isn't it?" she asked, looking at him and pointing to the picture. Gaara looked back at it.

It was a pencil sketch that had been drawn over in black ink. Gaara recognized it as one of his works that he had drawn sometime the week before. There was a line of figures that were presumably people, but they looked more like shadows of people. Each person had no face or color, and some of the shapes crossed into each other, but Sakura smiled anyway. She started from the left.

The first had spiky hair and arms crossed behind its head. "That's Naruto!" she said. The second was a little shorter, and the hair was shaped somewhat triangular. "That's Hinata," The next was taller than Hinata, but Sakura recognized the familiar pose. "This one's Neji," The fourth had two buns on either side of the head "and Ten Ten," The one next to that one had four easily recognizable ponytails. "Temari," The sixth had a high spiky ponytail that looked like a pineapple. Sakura giggled, "And Shikamaru," The next one looked big and round, like the person was wearing a parka. "Kiba," She pointed to small lump on the top of the parka, "Akamaru," She knew the next one, because of the floppy mop of hair on the head, "Kankuro,"

Sakura stopped and stared and the next figure. It was shorter than Kankuro, and had short hair. One hand was raised high above its head as though waving happily. "That's me," she said quietly with a smile. Sakura's eyes then swept over to the last figure, and didn't even have to guess. "And you!" she said turning back to Gaara. He smirked and nodded.

Sakura laughed and smiled to him. "This is great, Gaara! Thank you for putting me in it." He said nothing, and watched her as she looked at the price. "A hundred and seventy-five," she said. She looked thoughtfully at the picture a moment before she ran outside. Gaara arched an eyebrow and started to follow her, but she was already back inside with her bag. Gaara's eyes widened as she started rummaging through it, looking for something.

"Sakura, you don't have to-" he started but Sakura cut him off.

"Gaara, I really like this picture, and I love the fact that you included me in it. I want to buy it." She said, finally pulling out what she had been looking for, her wallet. Gaara watched as she pulled out a hundred dollar bill, a fifty, a twenty, and a five. She held them out to Gaara, but he refused.

"Who the hell carries that kind of money around with them?" he asked. Sakura blushed and realized how quickly and easily she had found the one hundred and seventy-five dollars.

"I-I don't know," she said. "But here, take it." She held out the money again. Gaara shook his head again.

"Sakura I didn't bring you here to buy anything. You don't have to feel obligated to buy something just because this place is a dump." Sakura scowled.

"I don't want to buy it because I feel sorry for this place or something! I really like the picture, and I can't just take it. That'd be stealing." She said defiantly, holding out the money to him. Gaara smirked.

"Look if you like the picture that much, I'll just give it to you. It's not like anyone else will be coming to look at it." He said. Sakura watched as he carefully dismounted the picture and rolled it into a neat cylinder. Sakura pouted as he held it in front of her.

"Please take the money Gaara, I'll feel bad if you don't. It's such a great picture!" she whined playfully, all the while being perfectly serious about it. Gaara arched an eyebrow and took the money, only to slip it and the picture into her bag. Sakura crossed her arms and started to say something. Gaara cut her off, because he didn't want to argue.

"That's that. Now there's reason I brought you here, and it's not for you to just look at pictures." Sakura's mouth closed and she looked at him questioningly. Gaara continued. "I was wondering if you might model for me." He said, looking away.

Sakura's eyes widened. "What do you mean?" she asked uncertainly. Gaara shrugged. "I've tried to draw you, and it's hard, because your expression always changes. I figured the only way I'll get you to stay still is if I ask." Sakura blinked a few times, but then smiled weakly.

"Um, ok." She said. "But why do you want to draw me?"

Gaara smirked. "Well I have pictures of all my other friends." Sakura's eyes shined at his comment, and she looked like an excited four year old. She hugged him and giggled. "Thanks Gaara!" she said. Gaara smirked and shuddered at the closeness. He recovered and led her to a back room that was full of blank canvas, paint, oil pastels, sketching tools, and other artists' equipment. Sakura gazed at all the different types of art supplies while Gaara grabbed a canvas pad and some charcoal pencils.

"What do you want me to do?" Sakura asked innocently. Gaara grabbed to stools and brought them over. "I don't know," he said. "Like I said, your expression always changes whether you realize it or not, but I would like you to smile." Sakura nodded and took the stool. Gaara took his stool a few feet away and sat down, canvas and pencils in hand. Sakura sat very still with a smile plastered on her face. Gaara looked her over but frowned. He stood up again and placed his canvas and pencils on the stool. Sakura watched curiously as he walked around and stopped in front of her. Her smile faded in confusion, which made Gaara scowl.

"Don't stop smiling," he commanded. Sakura murmured a 'sorry' and smiled again. Gaara looked at her for a long while before his hand took her chin and turned it slightly to the side. Sakura blinked but otherwise kept smiling. Gaara other hand reached up to pull her pink petal-like hair behind her ear. Sakura gasped at the feel of his cool, callused fingers touching her so delicately. It was now Gaara's turn to murmur a 'sorry' and this made Sakura turn pink. She hugged herself and looked at the floor in embarrassment. Gaara's voice startled her.

"Wait, don't move." He said, looking at her. Her position was just perfect, arms hugging herself and gaze fixed softly on the floor, with a small kind smile still on her lips. He smirked at her pink cheeks, but said nothing about it and headed back over to his stool. He picked up his pencils and canvas and began to lightly sketch an outline.

After he had finally finished outlining her head and upper torso, he started on her face. She had been sitting there for at least ten minutes already in the same position, so her face didn't show the same cute embarrassment anymore. He needed to make her laugh somehow, but he wasn't funny. What would he say? He thought for a moment.

"Have you ever wondered what Ino would say if she found out Sasuke was gay?" Gaara asked with a smirk. Sakura's face brightened a little as she tried to remain still. She was confused at why Gaara would ask such a question in the middle of drawing her, but Sakura was trying to focus on not laughing. Gaara smirked again. There it was. The happiness he had trouble catching before. He quickly outlined the beauty of her delight on the empty face of the drawing.

Sakura watched from the corner of her eye as Gaara would lift his head every few seconds to look at her. Then he would turn back to his canvas and she would hear the faint scratches of the pencil. Soon enough Gaara pulled out a darker pencil and stated making the outline darker and worked on shading. He worked on the very last line and looked at the finished work. It was perfect, and he was secretly proud out how much a damn good artist he was. He inwardly chuckled at his thoughts and called out to his model.

"Finished," he said, removing himself from his seat. Sakura looked up and smiled brightly. "Really? Can I see it?" she asked, hopping over to his side. At first he didn't want to show her, but then handed her the canvas. Sakura was completely silent.

"Wow," she said finally, though Gaara could barely hear it. She giggled. "It looks better than my reflection in a mirror!" She handed it back to Gaara. "You really are a great artist. And to think I never noticed it! I almost feel ashamed for not realizing it!" she said, looking at him apologetically.

"Don't be ashamed." He said. Sakura's eyes showed confusion, so Gaara explained. "Nobody knows about this place." He said, putting away the pencils and stools. Sakura was confused.

"What do you mean?" she asked.

"Our friends? All the people in that picture? They know nothing about this place. All they know is that I occasionally draw sketches. Not even Temari and Kankuro know that I'm this-"

"Good?" Sakura finished for him. He blinked a few times before shrugging and nodding. Sakura gave him a small smile. "You really are good, you know? You're great with the band and you have good grades, but this is wonderful." Gaara's eyes softened.

"Thanks." He said. They looked at each other for a moment, but there was a question nagging at the back of Sakura's mind, so she broke the silence.

"If no one else knows about this, why'd you bring me here?" she asked, trying hard not to gaze intensely in his emerald orbs. His face was completely emotionless, and for a moment Sakura once again found herself admiring just how handsome he was. Gaara, on the other hand, was trying to keep his heart rate in check. He was yelling at himself to stay calm and give a good honest answer to her question at the same time. _Dammit! _He inwardly cursed. _There it is again! I never get nervous, but here I am! Nervous! In front of Sakura! _Gaara took in a deep breath.

"Uhh…"

Just then the sound of a door opening got their attention. Gaara and Sakura went out into the main room to see who was there.

A boy about their age was wandering through the room, but stopped when he saw them. He had black hair and a leather jacket. He nodded to Gaara and smiled at Sakura. "Well I was wondering who was here, because the door was open," he said, turning back to Gaara. "I should've guessed it was you, Gaara. Who's your friend?" he asked, smiling at Sakura, who blushed lightly and hid behind Gaara. Gaara arched an eyebrow but other wise didn't seem to notice.

"This is Sakura. She's a friend of mine." He said, stepping out of the way of the girl. She gave a small smile and a half-hearted wave to the boy. He smiled back to her and introduced himself.

"Nice to meet you, Sakura. I'm Sai." He said. "So Gaara brought you to show off his works? I suppose he is one of the best artists we have in this small shop, but I'm not too bad either. I guess he's already explained that not many people come by here so we really just use it as a place to store our art. Would you like to see my new piece?" he asked pulling out a rolled up piece of paper. Gaara advanced toward him, and Sakura followed. Sai unrolled the paper to show them an abstract drawing. It had lots of swirls and lines on it, and Sakura realized it looked like some of the other pictures in the room.

"It's very pretty," Sakura said, admiring the drawing. Gaara sort of nodded. Sai beamed. "Thanks," he said. Sakura gave him a real smile this time and he turned off to place his picture on a blank mount somewhere. Sakura checked her watch as he did so. Her eyes widened.

"Wow! We've been here a whole hour!" Gaara looked at the time. It was true. They had been gone longer than he had intended.

"I guess it's time to take you home then," Gaara said, shrugging. "I don't want your dad to get angry." Sakura nodded and they waved goodbye to Sai.

Gaara pulled into Sakura's driveway. He turned off the bike and took off his helmet. Sakura was already climbing off. "Thank you, Gaara." she said sweetly, planting a small kiss in his cheek. He blinked at her as she pulled away and blushed.

"That's the second time you've kissed me today." Gaara said plainly, handing her bag to her. Her blush grew darker.

"Sorry," she said. "I didn't think you minded, but I'll stop." _Dammit! _Gaara cursed at himself.

"You don't have to," he said shrugging and looking away. Sakura blinking a few times before she smiled. "Ok," she said. Her blush was darker now, and Gaara felt his own cheeks heating up. She gave a friendly wave and ran inside her house. Gaara sat there a moment. _Damn! I wanted to ask her about the kiss! _He thought about going to her door and talking to her there, but after taking a second or two to think about it, he decided not to, even if her dad wasn't there.

Sakura watched from her widow as Gaara looked around at her driveway. For a second he acted as though he might dismount his bike, but then he shook his head and she watched him turn on the ignition and drive off. She was still blushing. Taking out the picture that he had given her, Sakura carefully unrolled it and pinned it on her wall. Her wall was white, and she glanced around her plain room. Her last room had been pink, but she had grown out of the color (despite her oddly colored hair). She looked at her walls. White was just…too white. An idea suddenly popped into her head. She smiled. Sakura couldn't wait until the next day.

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Well that's all for now, I suppose. Please review! Don't be afraid to criticize if you feel like it. I'm always looking to improve my writing. Thanks again!

--Olly


	8. Chapter 8

Olly: Hey y'all! It seems I had a chapter mix up. I know most of you have already read this chapter, but I'm trying to put it back in order. Sorry!!!!!

Disclaimer: Don't own naruto

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Sakura made sure to set her alarm clock a few minutes earlier the night before, when she rolled out of that morning she was just on time. She didn't give a second glance to her now completely flattened alarm clock. Sakura did the morning thing—shower, brush teeth, pick out clothes (white tee with red cat on it, black cargos), stumble down stairs, grab a power bar and juice, give mom and dad kisses on the cheek) and soon she walked outside to wait for Gaara. Things had been iffy with her dad the last two days, but he didn't say anything as Gaara pulled up. Sakura smiled at him as he drove up, seven o'clock exactly. They were soon on their way to school.

They walked to the tree and Gaara pulled himself up, only this morning he helped Sakura up by giving her a hand. She smiled and for a brief moment he expected a kiss. He didn't get one however, and was slightly disappointed, but said nothing. Sakura's bell like voice soon broke the silence.

"Hey Gaara?" she asked with a smile. "Hn?" was his only response. He was still a little upset at not receiving a kiss. She smirked and ignored his enthusiasm. "Well I was looking at my room last night, and it's so boring. The walls are all white and stuff, and its really getting on my nerves, so I have this great idea, you wanna hear it?" she turned to him, all smiles.

"Nope."

She pouted. "Well I'm gonna tell you anyway." Gaara smirked and closed his eyes to listen. "Ok, I was thinking, what if everyone came over and I had like a painting party or something? We could just splatter different colors of paint everywhere! It would be so much fun. And then if you or anyone else wanted to draw pictures later over the splattered paint it would look really cool!" she said, hopping around carefully on her perch. Gaara kept his eyes closed, but arched an eyebrow. It _was_ a good idea; the rest of their friends would definitely like it. Sakura watched him expectantly. He cracked one eye open. "Ok."

Sakura's face lit up as if one cue. She planted a kiss on his cheek, immediately heightening Gaara's bad mood. He smirked. "Thanks, Gaara!" she said. "I know you like to draw, so you can have a whole wall to yourself if you want!" she flashed her beaming smile. Secretly Gaara felt somewhat proud that she would dedicate an entire wall to his artistic abilities, but he didn't show it and only shrugged again. She pouted for a second, but decided that was all the response she was going to get from him at the moment, so she shrugged and sat back on her branch and waited for the rest of the group to arrive.

Gaara glanced over to look at her. He could only see the side of her face, and she couldn't see him looking at her. Her beautiful pink hair was tucked lovingly behind her ear. He saw how the sun glinted off her eyelashes and how her porcelain-like skin seemed more delicate than glass. _Great, _he thought. _I could become a damn poet with this shit._

He stared painfully at her as she stared off in the distance. He wanted to tell her. How he felt, how he saw her in his mind almost every moment of the day. He wanted to ask her why he felt this way around her. And why her kisses seemed to be worth more than anything every time he thought of them? He suddenly became very determined. Ok, this was it, he was going to tell Sakura right now…

"Sa—"

"Hey Sakura!" came the obnoxious voice of Gaara's best friend. Gaara cursed silently. _Dammit Naruto! I'm so gonna kick your ass later! _Gaara secretly vowed as he watched Sakura greet the overly loud blonde. Naruto put his arms behind his head in his usual pose. Gaara sighed. Soon everyone else was going to arrive. Sakura jumped down to join Naruto, and as soon as she did they started arriving in pairs (or so it seemed). Hinata and Neji, Temari and Kankuro, and Kiba and Ten Ten just kinda walked up together. Shikamaru just like appeared out of nowhere. They all raised eyebrows at his sudden arrival.

"Geez Shikamaru! Your like an alien, just poofing out of no where!" Ten Ten joked. Shikamaru's eyes widened at the word 'alien' and he scooted back a little ways.

"I don't know what you mean," he said rigidly (A/N Omg Shikamaru's an alien!! Lmao). They all looked at him strangely but Sakura brought all the attention back on her. "Hey guys!" she said. They all looked at her. She told the about her room, and they all agreed it was a great idea. They decided to meet at her house on Friday after school. The bell soon rang and they all went inside.

(Ok let's just skip ahead to Friday)

Sakura and the others walked out of the school after the last bell for the day rang. Gaara hadn't had a chance to talk to Sakura at all. Something always happened. She had decided to go on a surprise shopping trip to the mall with the other girls, so he hadn't taken her home last night, and that morning had been interrupted by a very early Naruto, determined to steal Gaara's spot in the tree. Of course Gaara gave him a very sore backside quickly afterwards and reclaimed his rightful place, but he still hadn't gotten a chance to talk to Sakura alone. It was driving him absolutely insane and he had become even more irritable than usual. Not like tonight was going to help. Sure he would get a chance to 'accidentally' splatter everyone who pissed him off with paint, but other than that…

There was one advantage, however. Sakura's only ride home was Gaara's bike, and she still had to move the furniture out of her room, so he was going to be alone with her for at least thirty minutes to an hour. Yes, he would have to be lugging a bed or desk or something while he talked, but other than that, he still had sharing time. Gaara smirked as everyone started walking off in different directions to their cars, each holding a copy of directions to Sakura's house, except for the girl in question, who walked happily by his side. He loved being in her company, and now and then Sakura would unknowingly lean in her walking. She never noticed until _after _their arms would touch, and every single time she would blush and apologize, while Gaara would remain silent, mentally thanking the gods for the brief contact.

Sakura walked beside Gaara. He had somehow become her best friend, because she had been spending so much time with him, and ever since their kiss it seemed like something more. Even though Gaara had said it was alright, Sakura still kissed him on the cheek quite often, and their other friends had caught her doing once or twice, resulting in many unneeded questions and bothers that only made Sakura blush and Gaara angry. She really needed to refrain from it, but she couldn't help it. Anything nice he did for her, Sakura wanted to reward him with a kiss. And every time she would give in, she would feel like slapping herself. She prayed that he only saw it as friendly, because she wouldn't know what to do if he discovered her crush on him. Sakura only saw two choices:

He accepts and they start going out: ending up with angry parents, awkward relations with her other friends, embarrassment for Gaara, and possible break-up. Or…

Things are screwed up from the start: he rejects her, they begin to act more distant and eventually don't remain friends and Sakura loses close ties with the rest of her friends.

Sakura didn't want either choice, but instead kept her mind focused on the happy daydream that Gaara really does love her back and they stay together forever. Their friends are totally supportive and soon the start to pair up too, leaving Kankuro and Kiba to become a gay couple. (A/N Gotcha! Just kidding.) Kiba and Kankuro both get girlfriends and they're all a happy little group that go on sextuple (A/N to all you pervs, it means six just like double means two, and so on) dates together. Gaara would eventually become a world renowned artist as well as Shinobi would become a world class band. Sakura would become a great doctor if not a singer and they would buy a big house overlooking a lake and…

"Sakura, we're here." Gaara's voice sounded fuzzy through her helmet. Sakura looked around. They were in her drive way, and she was still hugging Gaara from behind. _What the hell? When did I even get on the bike? I don't even remember the walk through the parking lot! _Sakura awed at her ability to blank out like that as she climbed off the bike and took off her helmet. She was still dazed as she led Gaara up to her front door; at least this time she was aware of what was happening. She fished out her keys and opened the door. After closing the door she led Gaara upstairs to her room.

Gaara looked around. It was a nice sized room, bigger than his, but not too big. There was a desk in one corner and a bed in the other. On the other side of the room Gaara saw still a few boxes—or maybe they were empty, he couldn't tell, and a full length mirror. Her bedspread was bright pink with green flowers, and Gaara looked questioningly at it. Sakura caught his stare.

"Oh, uhh…my last room was pink. I plan on buying a new bed spread soon." She said nervously. Gaara nodded. She looked around the room. "Ok, let's get started then." She said. Gaara nodded again and waited for instruction. Sakura looked around her room again. "Umm, could you take those boxes into the empty room down the hall please?" she asked. Without a word Gaara picked up four boxes as if they were nothing and walked off out of the room. Sakura admired his strength for a moment, for some of the boxes weren't empty, but she quickly focused on getting all of the small things off the desk and from other places I the room. She started piling everything onto her bedspread—nail polish, makeup, etc.—and when everything was there she rolled it up in the cloth carefully.

Gaara came back to collect the other boxes, and Sakura followed him out of the room with her folded up bedspread. He wondered why it clinked like metal and glass when she moved it. They both went back into her room. They stood still for a moment wondering what to do next, but then sakura advanced over to her desk and Gaara followed example. They each picked up a side and began to walk it out the door. Gaara finally decided to speak up. "Sakura?" he asked, walking backwards slowly.

"Yeah?" she asked, watching the bottom of her side of the desk. Gaara tried to word his sentences carefully, but he suddenly became nervous. What if she didn't want him?

"Uhh (they dropped the desk by the spare room) well um, you remember the band practice on Tuesday?" he asked, following her back to her room.

"Yeah, you guys are awesome! I really think you could be big!" she smiled and started to lift the mattress off her bed. He smirked but then tried to speak again, leaving him with a confused look.

"Well that's not what I was talking about, but ok, thanks." He said, picking up the other side of the mattress and helping her carry it out sideways. She looked at him from across the mattress length.

"What were you talking about then?" she asked. Gaara looked away for a second, but then answered:

"Uhh, the kiss?"

Sakura's eyes widened and she dropped her end of the mattress. Gaara grunted at the sudden shift in weight and let his side drop too. Sakura looked apologetically at him before she picked up her side again and they continued on. The poor girl looked around as if she was trying to find things to say out of mid-air.

"Uh, the kiss?" she said quietly. Her voice had for some reason become higher than before. "Well, w-which o—"

"_The _kiss." Gaara said firmly. "The one in the closet." At this Sakura made a yelp-like sound, causing Gaara to look at her in concern. She looked away from his gaze.

"Oh," she barely managed. "Well…what about it?" she asked squeakily. Gaara suddenly realized just how nervous Sakura really, was, and it made him feel a little more confident.

"Well it was more than just a friendly kiss." He pointed out. They shuffled into the spare room, set down the mattress, and headed back to her room, Sakura keeping her eyes fixed on the floor the entire time.

"Oh, well it was my first kiss. I'm sorry if it was more…" Sakura struggled for the right words. Gaara looked at her bank faced but on the inside he was shutting down. _Sorry? She's sorry? _It ran over and over in his head, and he didn't even hear her next few words.

"—I didn't mean to, and I'm sorry." She finished. Gaara looked at her. "Why are you sorry?" he asked a little coolly.

For a moment Sakura looked like a fish as her mouth opened and closed as if she couldn't think of words. "Well…well I thought…that was what you wanted…for me to be…you know…to be sorry." She managed softly. "You weren't looking for an apology?"

Her response processed through his mind. She thought he had wanted an apology. Did that mean that she really could possibly like him? Gaara remained completely motionless, yet on the inside Inner Gaara was doing a victory dance.

"No," he said a little softer. "I was wondering how you felt after it." Sakura blushed. She honestly couldn't tell where he was going with this. She could tell the complete truth of how she had immediately felt closer to him and developed a crush…but that might not be what he wanted and she would doom herself to awkward embarrassment. She could say it was just a friendly kiss…but that on the other hand, would be a lie. Sakura closed her eyes and squeezed her own wrist for support.

"I-I feel more attached to you I guess," she said quietly. "I kinda have a crush on you." Her face became hot and her left hand was slowly losing feeling from her squeezing it. Her stomach did the 'sudden drop' feeling (A/N you now the one, like on a roller coaster) and her chest tightened from lack of air as she held her breath.

Gaara, however, was staring at her in complete shock. If there was ever a time when shock was easily readable on his face, it was then (pity though; Sakura was staring at the ground and didn't see it). _**She**_liked _**him**_But _**he**_liked _**her**_ Gaara mulled it over for a moment. They liked_**each other**_He looked closely at her. The blushing young woman was looking away and holding her wrist very tightly. What's worse, she didn't seem to be breathing. He wondered what would happen if he…

Sakura was starting to feel faint because she refused to breathe until Gaara answered. But, second after second passed and there was no reply. Not a sound. Sakura started running a string of curse words through her mind. He didn't like her back! And she was only making the situation worse by acting all nervous like that! She let her breath out quickly but before she could take a breath…

Sakura found herself staring in surprise at Gaara's closed eyes. Her lungs ached and her legs were buckling, but she wasn't falling. _What's h-happening? _Sakura asked herself. Why was he so close? What was holding her up?

Gaara's face retreated and he gazed at Sakura. Her face showed pure shock, and he smirked a little. She didn't move at all, and Gaara soon became worried. "Sakura! Breathe!"

Sakura shook her head and started breathing again. She felt light headed for a second and had to breathe deeper to regain her lost air. Soon she was breathing normally, but she was still so close to Gaara. Why was she so close? She tried to move, but something was wrapped around her lower back. It was Gaara's arms. Why was he holding her?

Realization hit Sakura like a ten-ton truck.

"Ohmigod!" she voiced a little loudly. Gaara suddenly became very worried. "What?" he asked. She stared at him. "You just kissed me!" she said, looking at him in utter confusion. _Oh shit. _Gaara thought in horror. _She didn't want that! But I thought she said she liked me? Whatever, she'll hate me now. _He released his hold and backed away a couple steps. Sakura's eyes widened.

"No, no, no! I didn't mean it like that!" she gasped quickly closing the space between them. Gaara's face was completely emotionless. Sakura had trouble speaking clearly. "I didn't mean like I didn't want…I mean I did want…I couldn't breathe…and I didn't know what was happening…I thought you didn't like…" she paused for breath, trying to get her words straight. "I never thought you would kiss me again."

Gaara's face remained emotionless as he looked at the blushing girl who seemed to be having a speech crisis. _She what? Kiss her again? What? _He watched her look around the room again as if looking for quick answers, but when she looked back at him her face went from confusion to worry.

"Do you hate me now?" she asked quietly. Gaara eyes widened and for a moment he almost looked angry. "No!" he said sternly, gazing down into her eyes. She followed example and looked into his in return. "I could never hate you." He said firmly, gaze unmoving. Her expression softened and she leaned up to kiss him.

It was softer and less surprising than their last kiss. It shocked Gaara for a moment but then he welcomed it, wrapping his arms securely around her waist again. Sakura smiled into the kiss and wrapped her arms around his neck. After a minute or so they broke off for air. Sakura hugged him and Gaara rested his chin on her head. He smiled. That was the second time she had made him actually smile (and, Gaara figured, probably not the last). They stayed in each other's arms for a while.

"Well, now that we're past that, do you want to finish this room?" he asked. Sakura gasped in remembering what they were supposed to be doing. She giggled.

"Yes." She said. Gaara smirked and released her. She smiled warmly. "Thanks, Gaara." she said, kissing him on the cheek. His smirk broadened and they began where they had left off. Gaara took the remaining objects out of the room while Sakura started laying down plastic over the carpeted floor. When Gaara came back, he helped her. They also put plastic over her door and windows, and painters' tape over the edges of her door, windows, and closet. Gaara sighed once they were finally done, and sat down in the middle of the floor. He looked up at Sakura expectantly and she took the invitation to sit next to him. She leaned against him and rested her head on his shoulder. It felt great to get close to each other and not feel embarrassed or at fault for doing something wrong. Sakura smiled and checked her watch. It was 4:45.

She turned to Gaara. "You brought your paint clothes, right?" she asked. He nodded. "Well then I'd better go get mine. Everyone will be here soon." She stood up and went over to her closet. Gaara watched as she fished through piles of shirts and pants and so forth. She finally picked out two things and headed to her bathroom, shutting the door behind her. Gaara went to get his own clothes while he waited. When he returned it took all his power to not fall backward.

Sakura was wearing plain old ripped jeans. They were already stained with paint from previous use. Her overly baggy t-shirt was tied up in the back, and the sleeves were rolled up to her shoulders. Her pink hair was pulled into a messy (but good looking) ponytail. Gaara had to steady his breathing. _Holy shit! She looks good!_ How could she look so hot in baggy old painting clothes? Sakura giggled and he realized his mouth was open. He cleared his throat and went to change while Sakura went downstairs to wait for everyone.

Gaara looked at his refection in the mirror. His relationship with Sakura was definitely different now. He imagined himself being able to be closer to her more often, without shame or confusion. But what were they? Was she his girlfriend? Not that Gaara minded that idea, heck, he would've loved it. But he thought he had to _ask _or something, before it was official. Gaara shrugged. Whatever they were, it was better than before. He now had the liberty to hug and/or kiss her, which was a big relief for him. Ok, so he hadn't asked her about all his feelings and thoughts, but at least he didn't feel weighed down by them anymore. A least he knew that Sakura would be there to listen if and when he decided to tell her about them.

Sakura paced back and forth through her kitchen. She had told him she liked him, then he had kissed her, then she had made everything confusing, then she had kissed him, and now they were…she paused. What were they? Sakura had never had a boyfriend. Was Gaara her boyfriend now? She felt giddy from the thought of it, but then she remembered her mom saying something about 'guys have to ask permission from a girl's father before they can be a couple'. Sakura suddenly became worried. Her father would never accept Gaara. Not fully. Gaara walked down the steps in a baggy black t-shirt and paint jeans like Sakura had. She smiled to him. Now wasn't the time to think about that. Right now she had a painting party to host...well…at least in ten minutes she did.

Gaara smirked and joined her in a final kiss in the kitchen. They didn't stop until they both heard the doorbell ring. "Ready?" Gaara asked mockingly. "Yup," she answered with a smirk. "Hey what are we now?" she asked truthfully. Gaara blinked and replied, "I don't know." Sakura bit her lip. "Do they need to know just yet?" she asked awkwardly. Gaara gave a half-smirk. "nah." She smiled and gave him one last, small kiss. He let"Hi!" Sakura said happily, leaning to give Hinata a hug. She returned it and they both said "hey." Hinata was dressed much like Sakura, but with a purple shirt instead. Neji's clothes looked almost identical to Gaara's. They each carried a small can of paint and brushes. Sakura invited them in and they went to greet Gaara. Before Sakura could close the door she saw Ten Ten drive up with Naruto's car right behind her. No doubt she had to lead the dumb blonde there. Like the two before them they both walked up with paint cans in hand and paint clothes ready to go. After them was Kiba, who, for the first time since Sakura had met him, was without his trusty dog and fur jacket. Temari and Kankuro had come in the same car, and had to park on the side of the road because Sakura's driveway was now full. Like always, Shikamaru came last, but nobody noticed until he was already there. Thankfully Sakura saw his car parked on the road as well, but couldn't remember when he had driven up. She shrugged it off.

Sakura felt excited hosting her first party. Ok, so it wasn't a party, but it was going to be fun and with her friends. She pulled out some chips and drinks and called for a pizza, but other than that they were already having a good time. The girls wandered through her house, looking in the different rooms and such; while the guys joked around with Gaara (they apparently thought it was hilarious that he had spent nearly an entire hour alone with Sakura, in her house, and most likely—her room). Gaara glared at all of them. He didn't find them funny at all.

As soon as everyone had seen most of her house, Sakura led them all upstairs, helping them carry paint and brushes as well. They looked around her room and commented on the good job that Gaara and Sakura had done.

"Ha! What do you know? They actually did get some work done!" Kankuro said, making the guys laugh (except Gaara, who punched his brother in the back of the head). Sakura decided to get started immediately to avoid any conflicts that were about to start.

"Ok! Thanks so much you guys, for coming and all," she said looking at all of tem. Kiba however, didn't let her finish.

"What are you thanking us for? We're only here to make sure you girls don't leave without having been covered with paint first." He sniggered and the girls glared at him.

"Yeah right, Kiba. If anyone's going to be covered in paint it'll be you guys." Ten Ten said crossing her arms.

"Shut up, Twenty." Kankuro said. Ten Ten fumed.

"Don't call her that." said Neji, eyeing Kankuro evilly. Ten Ten blushed.

"Oh, so you're playing for the girl's team then Neji? Where's your skirt?" Shikamaru said with a smirk. Neji glared.

"I never said we weren't going to cream the girls, I just told him not to call Ten Ten Twenty." He said, smirking at Ten Ten. Her blush disappeared.

"Who said you'd be the one's creaming us?" she asked hotly.

"We did, because you're out-numbered six to four." Said Naruto with an evil grin. Temari huffed.

"You guys stand no chance. If your aim is anything like Kankuro's, you're already beat." She said with a devilish smirk of her own. Kankuro fumed.

"What's that supposed to mean?" he demanded holding up a fist. Temari put one hand on her hip and shrugged.

"Think about it Kankuro. I've been cleaning our house bathrooms for years. Your aim sucks." All the girls laughed and Kankuro turned redder than Gaara's hair.

"How do you know that's not Gaara, huh?" he asked heatedly. He received another whack in the head, courtesy of his little brother.

"It's definitely not me, idiot." Gaara said, face emotionless as ever. Everyone laughed at this, except for Kankuro who was muttering death threats to everyone under his breath. Sakura decided to continue at this point.

"As I was saying before I was so _rudely _interrupted (she shot a mocking glare to Kiba, who grinned), I'm happy you guys came to help me paint my room. So I guess we'll get started then!" she said clapping her hands together and giving a paint can to each person. They all opened their cans to a different color.

Sakura looked into her can. It was light blue. Hinata got light purple. Gaara got a dark-red color. Neji got dark purple. Kiba got a lighter red than Gaara's. Ten Ten got royal blue. Shikamaru got navy blue. Kankuro got a color between red and purple. Temari got emerald green. Naruto got light green.

"Aww!" Naruto whined. "I wanted it to be orange!" They all rolled there eyes at him. Before Naruto could say anything he was bombarded with flying paint. "Hey that's not fair!" He screamed. "No one said start!" Again they all sent strings of paint flying at him. He glared. "Ok, that's it!" He grabbed a brush and dipped it into the light green paint, making sure there was a lot on it. He slung it in a horizontal line so it hit everyone a little bit.

And so the fight began.

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Olly: Ah so sorry! I know, I hate when authors do that too, but I'm running on limited time and resources here. Now please! Review! I beg of you! –chibi eyes- pwease:3


	9. Chapter 9

olly: Hello all! i finally got my internet back!!!! Now i can continue with the story!

gaara: dear Lord, NO! Please no!

olly: -glares at him- whats that supposed to mean? don't you like sakura?

sakura: -glares at gaara as well-

gaara: i...uhh...on with the story!

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Disclaimer: Don't own Naruto

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It seemed paint was flying more on people than on walls, but no one seemed to care. Shikamaru splattered Temari who flung some back at him but missed and hit Kiba instead. Kiba tried to get Temari but she ducked and it hit Sakura. Sakura splattered Kiba but then was hit from behind by Neji. Hinata hit Neji and he tried to get her back, but got Gaara by accident. Gaara scowled and splattered Neji and Naruto at once. Naruto didn't notice and was trying to get Ten Ten. She got him in the leg and then spun around and got Kankuro in the side. Kankuro nearly fell over but recovered and started slinging paint in all directions. All the girls screamed and the guys laughed every time they were hit. Soon everyone was covered in different colors of paint, and the smell got to them. They all went downstairs for pizza.

They talked about the fight while eating and soon traveled back upstairs. This time they focused on getting the paint on the walls. Sakura was very pleased. The colors her friends had picked out were all coming together nicely and soon her room was no longer just plain white. Purples and reds and blues and greens were flying through the air and landing on the ceiling, walls, and floor. They all talked about the band and school and things like that. Time flew and they didn't stop talking even when all the paint was gone. They all sat in a circle—backs facing in, mind you—and admired their work. Sakura beamed. She had paint on her clothes, arms, face and hair, but her walls were painted, and she was with her friends. The only thing that would've made her happier would be if she was sitting next to Gaara. Sadly, he was on the opposite side of the ring.

Sakura looked around at her paint-stained friends. "Thanks, you guys!" she said happily. She scooted to the middle of the circle and hugged each friend from behind (giving Gaara an extra second of hug before continuing). "It really looks great! I love it!"

"Yeah it does look pretty good, doesn't it?" Naruto said proudly. "Look! You can see my green everywhere! And Hinata-chan's purple! And Sakura's blue!" he continued naming the colors proudly and it suddenly gave Sakura a great idea.

She rushed out of the room, leaving her friends to look back in confusion, but she returned with permanent markers. "I never want to forget who helped me with this and it's so special to me!" She walked over to one of the walls and found a large spot of her color. She signed it.

All her friends looked to each other as she turned around and smiled. They all smiled back and stood, each taking a marker from her and heading to a large spot of his or her color on the wall. Hinata signed the light purple, Neji signed the dark purple, Gaara signed the dark red, Naruto signed the light green, Temari signed the emerald green, Ten Ten signed the royal blue, Shikamaru signed the navy blue, Kiba signed the light red, and Kankuro signed his reddish-purple. They all backed away and looked proudly at each other and the wall. Sakura almost felt like crying. This had been the best time she had ever had in her life. She loved her friends.

They smiled at her and she smiled back. "Thanks," she said. Of course, the sentimental moment was shattered by Naruto's short attention span. "So what now?" he asked impatiently. Sakura chuckled and checked her clock. It read 8:47.

"it's about eight forty-five right now, but my mom and dad wont be home till late, and it's Friday night, so until my parents get here I guess you guys can stay." Sakura said. Temari looked around.

"But we're all covered in paint." She said. Sakura thought about offering them showers, but there wouldn't be a point, unless everyone brought clean clothes. Not to mention the guys might get ideas if she offered showers…

"Um, well," Sakura said uncertainly. Naruto bounced into the air. "I brought extra clothes! Could I take a shower here?" he said jumping up and down. Sakura blinked at him.

"Um, yeah, me too?" said Temari, flicking off some paint. "And me." Said Shikamaru. "My mom'll kill me if she sees me covered in paint."

The rest of the room was silent until Temari's head shot up. "Like hell I'm going to be the only girl taking a shower!" She grabbed the nearest girl next to her, who was Hinata. "Hinata needs a shower too!" The white eyed girl started to say something, but her mouth was covered by Temari's hand. Sakura looked at her expectantly. She didn't know what to do. Both the guys and the girls wanted showers.

"Um…well…ok. If you all have extra clothes. There are two showers downstairs and two showers upstairs. Guys, you can take the bottom floor and girls can stay up here." She looked at them hopefully. They all nodded.

"Well I guess I'll take one too or else Uncle Hiashi might get angry," Neji said shrugging. Ten Ten nodded too. "Yeah, its fun getting dirty, but I'd rather be clean."

Sakura hadn't really expected all this. Actually, because she had never thrown a party before, she didn't know what do about anything besides the painting. Thinking back on it Sakura realized she hadn't really planned what would happen afterwards, and guessed they might've just gone home. Psh, not her friends. They would hang around anywhere together if there was food, which Sakura just happened to have a huge kitchen full of. She sighed. Whatever.

Turns out everyone had brought extra clothes, to Sakura's surprise. Because there were more guys than girls, it took them a little longer, each person spending maybe five to ten minutes in the shower. The girls stood guard outside the upstairs bathrooms, incase the guys got any ideas. After about half an hour everyone was standing in the kitchen, heads dripping wet. Some of the guys looked strange with wet hair, because it flopped down into their eyes, especially Kiba. Hinata's hair didn't hold up in its usual shape as much, and Ten Ten's shoulder-length hair was hanging down. Temari wasn't able to put her wet hair back up into four ponytails, so hers too hung limply around her shoulders. Sakura's didn't look much different than it did normally, but her bangs wouldn't stay to one side and kept falling in her eyes. By some unknown miracle, Shikamaru had found a way to put his hair back up into his usual high ponytail, despite the fact that it was wet, and no one was able to figure out exactly how he had done it. Sakura giggled at the thought of Shikamaru doing hair flips in the bathroom, trying to get his hair up.

Sakura sighed. Once again, they were at a loss of something to do. Sakura's cell suddenly rang, and she picked it up. "Hello?" pause. "Oh hey mom." Pause. "Oh really?" pause. "Wow, that's crazy." Pause. "No, I don't mind." pause. "Uh huh, I will." Pause. "Bye."

Her friends looked at her. She gave a half smile. "uhh, well there was this huge traffic jam, and my mom just called and she's in the very middle of it…like it was only a couple cars in front of her and then the crash, so she's not going anywhere for a while. She's already called my dad, and he's stuck too, so they're just going to head to a hotel and spend the night." Sakura explained. She felt really uncomfortable for some reason, and couldn't understand why.

"So you've got the house to yourself tonight?" Temari asked. Sakura nodded cautiously. "Cool, then we can just spend the night."

"What?" It was all Sakura could manage. They wanted to spend the night? Sakura wouldn't mind the girls but…

"Oh no worries, just us girls." Temari said. Sakura arched an eyebrow. Sometimes Temari's boldness got on her nerves.

"You know it's rude to just invite yourself to spend the night at someone's house!" Hinata said, crossing her arms at Temari, who stuck out her tongue playfully.

"Aww, c'mon! We haven't had a real girl's night with Sakura yet, and it's Friday night! Plus her parents aren't here." She turned to Sakura with chibi eyes. "Please?"

Sakura sighed and nodded, but then became excited about her first sleepover. All the guys stared at the now chatting circle of girls. Kankuro cleared his throat for their attention; it didn't work. Instead Neji spoke up.

"Um, we're still here you know." He said, crossing his arms agitatedly. All the girls looked at him a moment, but then turned back to their conversation. He glared at them. Naruto pouted.

"Hey don't just ignore us! You can't just decide to have a girls only party while we're just standing here!" he said, fox-pout included.

All the girls sighed. "Fine, but what are we supposed to do?" asked Ten Ten. "It's not like there's video games and movies and music to play like at band practices." She said.

Kiba plastered a suggestive grin on his face. "We could play that game again. I never got a kiss." He advanced toward Ten Ten, with his lips poking out and his eyes closed. He received a hard punch in the arm. "Ow!" he said, rubbing his sore arm. Ten Ten shrugged. "Don't pucker your lips up to me." Neji smirked at this. Kiba pouted jokingly.

"Well we do have movies," Sakura said shrugging. They looked at her. "We could watch one in the home theatre." They stared.

"You have a home theatre?" Naruto asked, shocked. Sakura nodded and all her friends looked at her, slightly impressed, yet also jealous. They agreed and she led them to the room. It had some comfortable looking couches and a large screen taking up a full wall. Sakura showed them where the movies were and left them to pick one out while she went to make mounds upon mounds of popcorn. To put it lightly, she used up two whole boxes of Orville Redenbacher. Sakura made her way back to the movie room carrying four bowls of popcorn. When she entered the room, her friends relieved her of her burdens and she took a seat next to Hinata.

"So what are we watching?" she asked the purple haired girl. Hinata shook her head unsurely.

"I-I don't know. The guys said that they should pick the movie since we girls were going to have a whole night together. Knowing them, they'll probably pick out something with lots of blood and gore and death and evil people with knives and axes and CHAINSAWS!" The normally quiet Hinata had suddenly jumped to sitting on the edge of her seat and was glaring intensely at a wall.Sakura watched her with almost fear as the girl was breathing raspily, but then she took in a gulp of air and sat down again. "Yes," she said calmly. "That sounds like a movie they'd pick." Sakura stared at her but Hinata didn't seem to notice and ate some popcorn.

Shikamaru popped in a DVD and sat down on a vacant spot on the couch. Temari was still standing and unfortunately for her, there was no more room on any of the couches. She shrugged at sat in Shikamaru's lap, leaning her back comfortably back against his shoulder. He looked at her in surprise for a moment, but when she didn't move he smiled smugly to the other guys. Neji glared at him. He was not to be outdone. Ten Ten (who was sitting next to Neji) felt herself being pulled onto his lap. She gasped, but said nothing, and Neji flashed a smug smirk of his own. Naruto glanced at the two of his friends and looked around.

"Hinata!" he called, waving to her stupidly. She blushed crimson and walked over to him, but when Naruto caught Neji's death glare, he settled with having her sit next to him instead. He wrapped one arm around her shoulder and smiled to her cousin, whose eye was now twitching again. Had Ten Ten not been in his lap, Neji would've tackled the blonde. Kankuro glanced around the room, his gaze settling on Sakura. She had to look to both her left and right incase he was looking at someone else before she found there was no one and realized his objective. She yelped and hopped onto Gaara's lap, surprising the hell out him (though he didn't show it). Sakura gave Kankuro a big apologetic smile and he mumbled something while looking away. Kiba and Kankuro caught each other's gazes and both shouted "HELL NO!" simultaneously, making everyone look at them in confusion. The movie started.

As Hinata had predicted, it was a horror movie, and even though Sakura owned it, she had never seen it before. Throughout the movie she had to hide her eyes in Gaara's shoulder (much to his delight). Ten Ten and Hinata had to do the same to their guys, who of course, didn't seem to mind at all. The only girl who didn't seem to be completely afraid of the movie was Temari, but she snuggled close to Shikamaru anyway.

As a particularly gory scene came up, Sakura yelped and hid her eyes on Gaara's shoulder. Unfortunately, some of the others heard her noise and looked over to see Gaara and her, surprisingly very close, and Gaara didn't seem to mind. They all glanced at each other but said nothing. Gaara instinctively wrapped an arm protectively around Sakura and she hugged his neck. Sakura could only hope the movie would be over soon. To her relief, it was finished within another ten minutes, and she looked up into the dark room. The outlines of her friends were clear, and she watched as Temari stood to turn on a light.

They all groaned as the brightness flooded the room. Sakura had to blink her eyes repeatedly before she could see anything. Gaara took his arm back and Sakura slid off his lap to sit beside him. He was a little disappointed, but didn't show it, and stood up to stretch. Nobody seemed really tired, and when Sakura checked her clock, it only read 11:51. Not at all late for a Friday night.

"I am never, ever coming to another movie night when guys pick ever again." Said Ten Ten defiantly. Neji's arms were wrapped around her waist, and her arms around his neck. Hinata was snuggled up beside Naruto, with his arm around her shoulder. Temari had her head lying on Shikamaru's shoulder, but he was acting like nothing was worth caring about at the moment. Kiba had been previously hugging a pillow, but quickly dispatched of it, and Kankuro was just sitting there. All the girls nodded in agreement at Ten Ten's comment and the guys only shrugged.

"So what now?" asked Neji. He still hadn't released the girl in his lap, and seemed quite reluctant to, even though Ten Ten had already let her arms leave his neck.

"Well I think its time you guys left so we girls can have our sleepover." Said Temari, lifting her head from Shikamaru's shoulder. Naruto pouted.

"Well what are we supposed to do?" he asked. "Can't we stay too?" Hinata turned red and gave him an angry look.

"Of course you can't stay! It's a girl thing! Guys aren't supposed to know what girls do at sleepovers!" she said.

"Wow Hinata, you make it sound dirty." Kiba said with a smile. Neji glared at him while Hinata turned bright red.

"She didn't mean it like that and you know it! Kiba you're such a perv sometimes!" Ten Ten said, matching Neji's glare. "Anyway, a sleepover is nothing like that. We don't parade around in skimpy pajamas and have pillow fights with water, like I know you think we do." She said. All the guys shifted uneasily (A/N lol).

"well fine, you guys can come hang out at our place," Kankuro said standing. Naruto and Neji both reluctantly let their girls go and stood to leave. Temari, Ten Ten, and Hinata started walking back to the front of the house, with the guys following them. Sakura and Gaara were last in line. As the others rounded a corner, Gaara took Sakura's hand and pushed her gently against the wall, giving her a small sweet kiss. He pulled away and she blushed.

"What was that for?" she asked quietly, as they rounded the corner to catch up with the others.

"I figured it was the only way I would be able to give you a good night kiss." He said shrugging and staring straight ahead. Sakura blushed harder.

"Oh, thanks."

Gaara smirked and followed the rest of the guys out the door. Sakura and the other girls waved them all good bye and closed the door.

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olly: sorry if the chapters seem a little shorter than usual. i'm having trouble trying to find places to cut off chaps at. anyways, please review! -holds out ramen- i'll give you ramen if you review!

naruto: -pitches a fit- THAT'S MY RAMEN!!!

olly: oh...a...err...oops. umm, please review anyway!


	10. Chapter 10

**olly:me again!**

**kiba:you again? oh no!**

**olly:shut up. heres chapter ten. hope y'all like it!**

**------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- **Disclaimer: don't own Naruto

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**(With the girls)**

Sakura shut the door as each of the guys drove off. She turned to the girls. "Ok, I've never done this before so what do we do?"

"Alright first let's get our skimpy pajamas. Sakura, you get the pillows, Temari you get the water," said Ten Ten. Sakura stared at her. She started laughing, but when no one else laughed she stopped. "I was kidding! Geez…"

Temari shook her head. "Whatever. Usually when it's just us we do funny stuff that we'd never be able to do with the guys. Pretty simple really,"

"Well last time you had a sleepover together, what did you do?" Sakura asked curiously.

"Well we dressed up in completely outrageous outfits ad did each other's make up, but then the guys burst in on us and took us hostage. We were forced to go out in public in our funny outfits." Hinata said, scowling at the memory.

"Well yeah, but you were the only one who didn't find it funny Hinata," Ten Ten said. She turned to Sakura to explain. "See we dressed up as if we were going to a club or something, short skirts and low cut tops and stuff. Because Hinata's so shy we dressed her up the most, and she looked great, though she doesn't think so. Naruto couldn't keep his eyes off her. It was funny and crazy and sweet at the same time." She recalled smiling. "And Shikamaru couldn't talk every time Temari looked at him, and Neji,"

"Neji _accidentally_ grabbed Ten Ten's ass." Temari said smirking. Ten Ten gasped and turned red. "He did not!" she said defiantly, crossing her arms. Hinata giggled and Temari raised her eyebrows. "You know you liked it. Despite his attitude all the time, Neji is still just a guy. Seeing you in that tube top must have made him lose control."

Sakura, Temari, and Hinata all burst out laughing. Ten Ten just glared at all of them. After a while the three stopped laughing. "So…" Sakura said. "We dress up and do make up and have girl-talk, right?" she asked, still trying to understand the concept of 'sleep over'.

"Well, yeah, but we do other stuff too." Hinata said. "Hopefully this time the guys won't explode in the room and capture us again. It's hard to fight back when you're wearing a miniskirt." They giggled.

"One time we dyed each other's hair." Temari said. "It took forever, but it was still cool. My hair was red—redder than Gaara's—Hinata's was purple and dark blue, and we made Ten Ten's so that her buns were red and the rest was this weird orangey-pink color. It was awesome."

Sakura cocked her head. That sounded really fun. "Well I'd love to do that, but we'd have to go shopping for coloring. Wanna go to Wal-Mart?" The other girls nodded. They ran out the door and jumped in the car.

**(With the guys)**

Gaara pulled over his motorcycle a few houses down. The other guys followed example. Naruto got out of his car. "What are you guys doing? I thought were going to Gaara and Kankuro's house." They all looked at him as they got out of their cars.

"You dumb-shit. We're not going to their house." Neji said whacking Naruto on the side of the head. Naruto glared at him as he held his aching head.

"We're gonna spy on the girls. Since its Sakura's first time in a sleepover, they're probably gonna try and do everything in one night. If we ever want to see what they to alone together then we need to do it tonight." Kiba said, leaning against the car. Naruto stared for a moment then smiled.

"I knew that!"

Gaara sighed and shook his head. Suddenly the sound of car got their attention. The all looked to see Ten Ten's car pulling out of Sakura's driveway. All the guys hid behind their cars, but the car turned to drive in the opposite direction.

"I wonder where they're going," Kankuro said, arching an eyebrow. All the guys nodded, but then Shikamaru looked back into his car. They watched him.

"What the hell are you looking for?" Kiba asked as Shikamaru rummaged under the backseat of his car. They could hear his voice answering, but it was muffled.

"They probably went shopping, so they'll be back soon. It'll be easier to spy on them with these."

He finally came out with a bundle of wires. The other guys could see small cameras and microphones along with them. "Dude, do you just carry a huge bundle of cameras, wires, and microphones with you every where you go? What the hell do you need them for?" asked Kankuro.

Shikamaru shrugged and started walking back up to Sakura's house. All the guys raised their eyebrows but followed him. When they got to the house, they found that Sakura had locked the door. Shikamaru turned to Gaara, who sighed and went up to the door. They watched as he flipped open a switch blade and stated picking at the lock. Eventually the door clicked open and Gaara walked inside. They all stared at him. "Man, no wonder people are afraid of you." Naruto said. Gaara only shrugged, and they followed him inside. Shikamaru showed them how to set up the cameras and microphones, and they did so, putting them in the living room and a few other rooms. They thought about putting a camera in Sakura's bedroom, but when Gaara gave them a nasty glare they decided against it, because 'why would the girls go there? They won't like the wet paint -nervous cough-'. They put a microphone in the bathroom, because they knew the girls would probably go there to talk and do make up. They disguised the cameras with random things in the room—partially behind picture frames, etc—and headed back outside, locking the door behind them. They set up a viewing screen on Neji's laptop—which he just happened to have in his car—and everyone piled into Shikamaru's car. After about twenty minutes they saw the girls return carrying plastic shopping bags. They went into the living room.

**(With the girls)**

"Oh my gosh, did you see the guy at the checkout? He was all over Hinata!" said Temari laughing as she set her bag down. Hinata turned red. _Naruto and Neji shouted out loud 'what the hell??!!??'_

"No he wasn't!" Hinata practically yelled, glaring at Temari.

"Sorry Hinata, but if he didn't like you, he wouldn't have asked you for your phone number." Sakura said, putting a hand on Hinata's shoulder. _Neji and Naruto were making mental notes to go to Wal-Mart later._

"That's why I hit him in the face." Hinata said, crossing her arms. _All the guys stared in shock. Hinata? THE Hinata? Hit someone in the face? They ignored that and listened as she continued. _"The only guys that are allowed to have my phone number are Naruto, Kankuro, Neji, Gaara, Shikamaru, and Kiba, because they're my friends, and Neji's family, and,"

"And Naruto because you like him," Ten Ten finished. _Naruto fainted, then recovered, then recalled what had happened, and fainted again. Neji glared at him, but then turned back to the screen. _Hinata looked as if she was pondering something, but then shrugged and nodded. Her friends already knew, so what did it matter? _All the guys stared. Who knew Shy-Hinata could be so open like that? They watched as the girls laughed and started emptying the bags._

Sakura emptied her bag. Temporary hair dye—colors: bright red, dark red, blonde, and black. Hinata dumped the contents of her bag on the floor—a pile of make up fell out. Eye liner, lipstick, blush, eye shadow—the works. Temari and Ten Ten just had food. They each had bought one of those little cartons of ice cream. Temari had chocolate-coconut swirl, Hinata had vanilla caramel, Ten Ten had moose tracks, and Sakura had mint chocolate chip. _Gaara smirked. That was his favorite ice cream too, though no one knew. _Sakura delved into her ice cream with a spoon and started going through the make up.

"Ok," she said. "I've never done this before, so it's your call. What first? Make up? Hair? Truth or dare? _All the guys' eyes widened at that. Sakura continued. _Dress up? Or should we just eat like pigs and then figure it out?" She shoveled some more ice cream into her mouth. The other three laughed.

"Um, I think we should do the hair first, because it takes longest. Since there's four of us it'll probably take a while." Said Ten Ten with a mouthful of ice cream. The others nodded and headed to the bathroom, ice cream and hair dye in hand.

**(With the guys)**

They watched the girls disappear out of view of the camera. They turned up the bathroom speaker and waited for them to enter. "Well, well Naruto," said Kiba, flashing the blonde a big smile. "Hinata likes you! Lucky dog!"

Naruto blushed and grinned back. Neji shot Kiba a death glare and he decided not to say anything more. They heard movement in the bathroom, and they all became very quiet, so they could hear.

"_Ok, what color do you want Hinata?" asked Sakura._

"_Um, what color would Naruto like most?" Hinata asked. _Naruto blushed. Hinata could be so sweet.

"_Orange," said Temari. "But we don't have orange," Hinata whined._

"_Duh, that's the point. We didn't ask you what color Naruto wanted. We asked what color you wanted". _Pause. _"Fine whatever. I want some blonde streaks." _All the guys raised their eyebrows. Hinata with blonde streaks? _"Blonde to match Naruto." Hinata finished. _Naruto grinned. The guys heard the girls sigh. _"You know, I wouldn't have expected it from you Hinata, but sometimes you can be very difficult." Sakura said. The girls laughed. "Hey, while Temari's doing Hinata's hair, you want me to do yours?" Sakura asked Ten Ten. "Sure!" Ten Ten said._

The guys heard lots of moving sounds—things clattering and feet moving. _"Ok, what color do you want?" asked Sakura. "Uhh, maybe…" _there was a pause. _"I want bright red, but can you make it so my buns will be blonde?" _Neji arched an eyebrow—that would be interesting. _"Sure," said Sakura. _There were some more moving sounds, but soon conversation started up again. The guys listened intently.

"_Hey Sakura, what's up with your car?" Temari asked. _

"_Oh, I thought I told you guys already. That Ino bitch stabbed my tires so we got an auto shop to pick it up, but they don't have the right size tires. Can you believe that? It's just insane! Anyway, there's no telling when I'll be getting it back." She finished._

"_So until then you're just gonna ride around with Gaara?" asked Ten Ten. _

"_Um…well…I guess. If it's ok with him." _Gaara smirked. It was perfectly fine with him. The other guys looked at him and raised their eyebrows, but then turned back to listen to the conversation.

"_I bet you just like to hug him from behind on his bike." Said Temari. _Naruto grinned and lightly punched Gaara in the arm, only to receive and even harder punch to the side. Gee, Gaara's so compassionate.

"_You know, it's obvious you like him right? I just wanted to let you know if you're trying to hide it, it's pointless." Said Ten Ten. Sakura said nothing._

"_But no worries. I think he likes you too." Said Temari. _The guys looked expectantly at Gaara. He had his emotionless face on, but he glared at their faces and they turned back to the speaker. Temari continued. _"He's been acting a little different lately, especially around you. Plus those kisses you've been giving him." Sakura started to say something but was cut off. "Please don't say anything Sakura. We've seen you do it. Are you two going out or something? Because Gaara doesn't act like he minds." _Gaara froze. What would he do if she told them about earlier?

"_Those are just friendly kisses, for when he does something nice for me." Said Sakura. _Gaara was partly relieved and partly disappointed. Relieved that he wouldn't have to explain anything to his friends, and disappointed because what if she said was true? He decided not to think about it and continued listening.

"_So if Kiba or Kankuro or one of the other guys did something nice for you, you'd give them kisses too?" _Kiba and Kankuro leaned forward a little, and Gaara (who was sitting behind them) glared at their backs. _"Um…well…I don't know…I guess…just like I'd give you guys kisses!" _the guys' eyes widened and the heard clattering noises again.

"_Ack! Get away from me! I don't want a kiss! I don't want a kiss!" yelled Temari. All the girls laughed. _The guys could only imagine what was happening. After a few seconds there was silence.

"_I…feel…so…__**violated**__…" said Temari. The other girls laughed._

"_Are you going to ask me about kisses anymore?" asked Sakura. "Hell…no," answered Temari. _Nearly all the guys laughed. All the girls were laughing.

"_Ok Hinata, I think you're pretty much done. Rinse out your hair and dry it with a towel," said Temari. _

"_Ok," Hinata said, _the guys heard her stand and soon water running. _"I have an idea," said Ten Ten. "Let's play confessions."_

"_What's that?" asked Sakura. "It's like truth or dare, but with out the dare." Ten Ten explained. "Like we ask you a question and you have to answer it truthfully. And since you so lovingly volunteered, Sakura,"_

"_What?!" shouted Sakura. They ignored her and continued. "Alright since this is new to you, we'll give you an easy one," said Temari. "Who do you like?" _All the guys leaned in, even though they already knew the answer.

"…_Gaara…"_

"_Now was that so hard?" asked Temari, grin in her voice. _

"_I hate you,"_

"_Aww I love you too!" _

"_So what now? I just pick someone else?" asked Sakura. "Yup,"said Hinata. _Pause. _"Um ok, Temari."_

"_Oh how surprising. You picked me."_

"_Shut up. Um…I only have one question that I can think of, but you guys won't like it."_

"_Just say it pinky."_

"_-sigh- fine…out of all the guys…who would you want to be your first?" _The guys stared at the speaker as though it was a giant pumpkin rolling through a barbeque party in the middle of January.

"_First what?"_

"_First."_

"_Oh that first! Geez Sakura! Don't be a perv!"_

"_I told you you wouldn't like it."_

"_Argh! I don't like this game anymore."_

"_Temari, you have to answer."_

"_GOD! FINE! I guess…Shik—"_

"_SHIKAMARU???" _Shikamaru went pale, then bright red. The other guys just looked at him. Gaara and Kankuro eyed him suspiciously. It's not that they were particularly protective of Temari, but hey, she was still their sister—older or not.

"_Well if you knew the answer why the hell'd you ask?"_

"_Sorry."_

"_God, you're so weird. Ok next…Ten Ten."_

"_Yes?"_

"_Do you ever have dreams about Neji?" _Neji paled and he looked like he was focusing on something really hard. This 'Girl-sleepover-talk' was starting to scare him—and Hyuuga Neji wasn't afraid of anything.

"_Dammit! -sigh-…yes." Said Ten Ten. _Neji felt like he had just been hit by a truck. The other guys clapped him on the shoulders and whistled. They shut up when the girls started talking again.

"_Hey Ten Ten, your hair's done, so you can ask a question than wash it out and dry it." Said Sakura._

"_Ok, Hinata."_

"_Y-yes?"_

"_We know you kissed Naruto on Tuesday," _Neji glared at Naruto, who smiled weakly back. _"Well was it your first kiss?" _Neji and Naruto's attention snapped back onto the speaker.

"…"

"_Well was it?"_

"_-whimper-"_

"_OMG! Who was it?" _Neji and Naruto looked around in confusion. Hinata hadn't said anything. Did they miss something there?

"_No, no, no!" _Naruto and Neji sighed with relief. _"Naruto was my first, real, real kiss…but," _Naruto and Neji's eyes widened again. _"One time Shino gave me a kiss on the cheek. I had always considered it my first kiss, but now I don't think of it as that anymore." _Neji and Naruto blinked in unison. After they went to Wal-Mart, they needed to pay Shino a visit.

"_Shino…that one that likes bugs?"_

"_Yeah…the same…it was Valentines Day."_

"_Really? How old were you?"_

"_Seven."_

"_Aww! How cute!!" all the girls squealed._

"_Right whatever. You guys only had one question but you asked three so I'm entitled to have to two free passes." Said Hinata._

"_What?!?"_

"_That's settled, now Temari I'm going to do your hair. What colors do you want?" asked Hinata. _Pause. _"Dark red and bright red streaks." Answered Temari_. Hinata continued with the game.

"_Ok, Sakura…" _There was silence for a moment, while Hinata was pondering. _"Do you really think Sasuke and Ino make a cute couple??" She asked it with a funny voice that almost sounded like Ino's. All the girls laughed. _Some of the guys laughed. _"With her bitchy attitude and his self-caring attitude…yeah…I do. They're perfect for each other. He wouldn't care at all about her, and she'd care too much about herself. It's a perfect fit." Sakura said. They all laughed again._

"_Sorry," Hinata said once she stopped laughing. "I couldn't think of a better question."_

"_Hey Sakura, sit down and I'll do your hair," said Ten Ten. "What colors do you want?"_

"_Um I don't know…my hair's already colored, so what do you think would go good with it?" Sakura asked._

"_Hmm…I don't know…just sit there and I'll figure out something." Ten Ten said. "Ok Sakura, it's your turn to ask a question."_

"_Alright…but do we have to play this game? I mean… let's just talk." Sakura suggested. _The other girls agreed, and the guys kinda sighed. When girls 'talked' it usually put guys in a state of boredom that would make them blank-out, ultimately ending up with them getting their asses kicked for not listening.

"_So what are we going to talk about?" asked Sakura._

"_What all girls talk about," Hinata said. "Boys."_

All the guys' attention was now focused on the tiny speaker in front of them. Hell…if that's what they were going to talk about… "Turn it up!" said Naruto. "It's already on full volume," said Shikamaru. "But it would be easier to hear if you shut up. God, you're so troublesome." Naruto growled, but kept his mouth shut.

"_Ten Ten, what do you like so much about Neji? I mean he's always so quiet," asked Sakura._

"_Well look who's talking! Gaara's worse than Neji, but whatever. I like his silence. Sometimes. I would like him to talk to me more, but I can live without it if I have to. He smart and cool and I like his eyes." _she paused. _"Not to mention…he's hot."_

All the guys looked at Neji to see him with his mouth open in pure shock. "Dude, did you not know she liked you?" asked Kiba. Neji blinked, but then he turned pink and crossed his arms. Some of the guys sniggered at him but said nothing else.

"_Yeah, we were wondering when you'd slip that last bit in." Hinata laughed. "But, what do you really, really like about him? What made you fall for Hyuuga Neji?" _Neji leaned a little closer to the speaker.

"_Well…I don't know if you guys remember…in the seventh grade I had a crush on him because he was cute and someone told him and he told me that he didn't like me back." _Neji looked at the speaker painfully. He remembered that day. _"I was really embarrassed and sad. Then later he asked me if I still liked him and I said no, because I didn't want to be all embarrassed again, but I never got over my crush. Like I said, there's just something about him that I just find…"_

"_Alluring?" asked Sakura._

"_I guess. Maybe it's his eyes. I know you have them too Hinata, but they're different on Neji. They make him look strong and mysterious."_

"Alright I'm gonna go puke now," Gaara said leaning back. The guys chuckled lightly, except for Neji who glared at him. "Next she'll be saying she wants to stare into your beautiful white eyes all day long," Gaara said with a smirk. This made the guys really laugh and for a moment they forgot about the speaker. Neji's eyes widened and glared at Gaara. Before they could stop him Neji was tackling Gaara. Somehow the door opened and they fell out of the car, hitting the pavement and rolling a few feet away. Neji was trying to land a blow on Gaara, but he just blocked them.

"Shut up you guys! Temari's talking!" Kiba said, because he was closest to the speaker. Neji and Gaara glared at each other but then stood and went back to the car. Shikamaru was already listening to the conversation.

"_Wow, Ten Ten, I didn't know you liked Neji that much."_

"_Yeah I know. It's kinda stupid, because he'll probably never really really like me._ (Neji suddenly felt horrible)_ Anyway, Temari, what about you and Shikamaru?" _pause.

"_What about us?"_

"_Well you like him."_

"_So?"_

"_He's a year younger than you."_

"_And?"_

"_You'll be graduating a year before him."_

"…"

"_What are you going to do for a whole year? Just wait around for him to graduate?"_

"…"

"_Ok never mind then. But what do you like about him?"_

"_I don't know."_

"_c'mon! Ten Ten could've written a freakin book with all the stuff she just said about Neji! What about you?"_

"_Can I help it that Ten Ten's better with words than I am? I don't know why I like Shikamaru…I just do…its complicated."_

The guys all looked at Shikamaru; he was half grinning, half frowning, and blushing like mad. The laughed at him but stopped when the girls continued.

"_Well ok, we'll talk about something else. Hinata! What about you and Naruto?" _Neji glared at Naruto, who didn't notice and was staring at the speaker.

"_Umm…well…w-what about us?"_

"_What do you like about him?"_

"_Well he was always really nice to me, even before we were all friends,"_

"_So it's a childhood crush?"_

"_Well I guess, but see I'm really shy. You know how I stutter when I meet new people?"_

"_Yeah."_

"_Well it's like I can't help but stutter, and I'm afraid to ever really stand up for myself."_

"_Are we talking about you or Naruto?_

"_I'm getting there. One time this kid stole my candy…"_

"_Stole your candy?"_

"_In third grade! Now shut up so I can finish!"_

"_Geez fine,"_

"_anyway, I was real upset, so Naruto stood up for me and told the kid to give the candy back," _Naruto smiled warmly. He remembered that day. It was when he had first really liked Hinata.

"_But then the kid ate the candy, so Naruto punched him in the face and gave me his candy. It was so sweet! Naruto got in trouble, but it was still so nice."_

_(All girls) "AWW!!"_

"_Yeah. It's just he's brave and out there and loud for everyone to hear. Maybe I like him because he's my opposite."_

_(Sakura)"That's true. Opposites attract. Are you ever gonna tell him?"_

_(Temari)"Honestly, are any of us going to tell the guy we like that we like him? None of us have the guts." _

"_Yeah it sucks. I keep dreaming one day he'll ask me out, and I'll just be able to say yes and we'll be together forever."_

"_Psh, not with Neji around!"_

"_Omg he's so over-protective of you."_

_(Ten Ten) "Do you think if we ever went out he'd be protective of me too?"_

_(Hinata) "I don't know. Neji is a little harsh sometimes, but he's my cousin, more like my big brother. I guess he sees it as his job or duty or responsibility or something. I can't say anything. I'm afraid he'll get mad…or sad…or something." _All the guys looked at Neji and raised their eyebrows. Neji only turned away. The girls kept talking.

"_-gasp- guess who's turn it is!"_

"_Sakura!"_

"_What?"_

"_How are you and Gaara?" _Everyone's eyes went back to the speaker, including Gaara's.

"_-Sigh-, didn't we already go through this?"_

"_No. What do you like about him? When you first met you guys were like mortal enemies."_

"_I know, but when he does nice things for me I just…melt." _"Oh Gaara! You make me melt too!" said Naruto mockingly in a high pitched voice. He received a death glare and a punch to the stomach. "Shut up dumb ass." All the guys laughed.

"_So my brother makes you melt huh? Strange…"_

"_Strange?"_

"_Yeah…most girls don't seem to like Gaara. I think they're afraid of him."_

"_Or they're one of Sasuke's fan girls."_

"_But he's not a bad person!"_

"_No, Gaara's not a bad person at all. He just has a bad reputation. Maybe his appearance scares people…or his silence…"_

"_So people are afraid of him because he's not a chatterbox?"_

"_Maybe,"_

"_Well then how are you his friends?"_

_(Ten Ten) "The same reason you're his friend. Temari's his sister and Kankuro's his brother, and for a while they were his only friends. But then Temari and me and Hinata became good friends, and Gaara and Naruto became friends, and Hinata brought Neji into the picture, who was friends with Kiba, whose neighbor was Shikamaru. Somehow we all piled into one group and we've been friends since seventh grade."_

"_Face it Sakura, if you hadn't become friends with Ten Ten, Hinata, and me, do you think you would've tried to get close to Gaara?"_

"_I…well…-sigh-…no, I don't think I would've. He wasn't the nicest person to begin with." _Gaara felt a twinge of pain in his chest, but knew what Sakura said was true.

"_But whatever!" Sakura continued. "He's like my best friend now, so what does it matter?" (Angry pause) "Ah! You guys! I didn't mean like best friend! Or best guy friend! I meant…I mean…it was…argh!"_

"_Oh gee thanks Sakura. That really makes us feel loved."_

"_No! I didn't mean it like that! I just meant I like him! Like, like-like him! I didn't mean to say best friend!"_

"_Or did you?"_

"_No! Stop it!"_

"_We're just kidding, Sakura. We know what you meant."_

"_WELL WHY THE HELL DID YOU MAKE ME FREAK OUT WITH GUILT JUST THEN??"_

"_Because it's fun,"_

"_ARGH!!"_

"_Oh god…NOT THE WET WILLY, NOT THE WET WILLY!!" _All the guys stared in confusion. Wtf? Wet Willy? They heard all the girls laugh.

"_Sit back down, Sakura! I need to finish your hair."_

"_Oh…right" said Sakura. _

"_Ok Temari your hair's done."_

"_Alright."_

"_Hey Sakura, you never answered the question. What is it that you really like about Gaara?"_

"_Umm…I don't know…"_

"_He's hot, right?"_

"…_well…yes…"_

"_I knew it. You fell for him the day you saw his abs!" _Gaara's cheeks went pink. Thankfully, it was dark, so none of the other guys saw.

"_Temari!"_

"_What?"_

"_Ooh!! Sakura's blushing!"_

"_Shut up!"_

"_Ok, ok…name the things you like about Gaara."_

"_Everything?"_

"_Everything."_

"_um…ok…I like his hair, his eyes, the rings around his eyes, his tattoo, his motorcycle, his clothes, his silent-coolness, he's a pretty good singer—for the band I mean, and he plays guitar, he's pretty good in school,"_

"_His abs,"_

"_Yes, that too."_

"_His chest,"_

"_Uh…yeah"_

"_His ass."_

"…_yes…stop naming them, you guys like other people."_

"_Hey, we can say the same things for either of our guys. They're all hot. We're just helping you out here."_

"_Whatever."_

"_Anything else?"_

"_Umm…well…"_

"_Say it already!"_

"_I can't."_

"_Why not?"_

"_It's…it's personal."_

"_PERSONAL? God Sakura! We're your friends."_

"_I know…"_

"_So why won't you tell us?"_

"_I…I just…_

"_Please?"_

"_Well, I mean there's so much more that I just can't really put into words, but I…-sigh-…I like the way he kisses." _All the guys turned to look at Gaara. For once in his life, he didn't know what do. He opened and closed his mouth a couple of times, but the resolved to just death glaring at all of them. They knew better than to challenge his glare so they turned away and continued listening.

"_Really?"_

"_Well yeah."_

"_Well have you ever kissed anyone else?"_

"_No…Gaara was my first kiss."_

"_Oh…you know I've never seen him kiss a girl. I mean maybe he's done it before…but none of us would know. As far as we know, he's never even liked a girl before."_

"_He hasn't."_

"_How would you know?"_

"_He told me."_

"_What?!"_

"_What what?"_

"_Gaara opened up to you? How'd you get him to do it? I don't think he'd ever openly say something like that to anyone! What did you do?"_

"_Nothing…I asked."_

"_You asked and he answered? Gaara's usual vocabulary is 'hn' or 'shut up' or 'shut the fuck up'. What did you have to do in return?"_

"_What do you mean?"_

"_He wouldn't say something like that unless he had a reason."_

"_Oh…well he asked me if I had a boyfriend, so it was kind of a fair trade I guess."_

"_He what?!"_

"_Umm…I might've said something wrong…"_

"_He asked if you had a boyfriend?"_

"_Err...Well…"_

"_opening up and actually talking to you, giving you daily rides to and from school, not caring if you kiss him, not acting like he has something shoved in the wee crevices of his ass all the time…"_

"_What?"_

"_He likes you! He has to!"_

"_Well uh…"_

"_It's the only possible explanation." _All the guys looked at Gaara. Naruto and Kiba grinned. Kankuro gave him a thumbs-up. Neji and Shikamaru just kinda smirked at him. Gaara was cornered. "What?" he asked. "You like Sakura!" Naruto said, ruffling Gaara hair. Big mistake. Naruto coughed and held his throbbing stomach, which in turn hurt courtesy of Gaara's punch. "Shut up." Gaara said to him. "So you do like her?" Neji asked. Holy shit. What would Gaara say? He looked blank faced at them, but then glared angrily at the floor. The guys chuckled. "Nothing to be ashamed of, Gaara. We're actually proud." Said Kankuro fondly. Gaara arched an eyebrow. "Yeah we were wondering if you'd ever get your first crush. I guess pink turns you on, eh?" Kiba said with a smirk. Gaara glared at him. They all turned back to the speaker after missing part of the conversation.

"_Well I'm happy for you. Both of you. It's perfect. He likes you, and you like him. All you have to do is tell him." _Gaara smirked. He and Sakura were already ahead of the game.

"_Yeah, I guess," said Sakura. "But wouldn't it make things awkward between the rest of you guys? One couple and the rest just friends? I—I don't want to exclude-slash-be excluded from anything we do as a group."_

"_What would make you think that would happen?"_

"_I…I don't know. I just don't want our friendships to change."_

"_You mean you'd rather be friends with Gaara than date him?"_

"_No…I want to date him…but I want us all to be friends too. It's kind of hard to explain…"_

"_Sakura. Don't worry. If you and Gaara started going out we'd be even happier. Gaara would be happier. Not to mention, maybe it'll give the other guys courage to ask us out…or vise versa."_

"_Yeah…thanks guys."_

"_No problem."_

"_Hey Sakura, your hair's done. Go wash it out."_

"_Finally!" _pause.

"_Can I see it?" _pause.

"_Omg! It looks fantastic!"_

"_Really?"_

"_Yes! Wow! Ten Ten you're pretty good at coloring hair."_

"_thanks." _Gaara was really wondering what Sakura's hair looked like. Unfortunately, the cameras only showed black and white, so he wouldn't really be able to see it when they left the bathroom. Which they did…after fifteen long minutes where all the guys could hear was the blaring sound of hairdryers.

**(With the girls)**

All four girls walked out of the bathroom, hair dry and fixed just the way they liked it. Temari's with her four pony tails, Ten Ten in her two buns, Sakura's straightened with bangs off to the side, and Hinata's like normal. They all took long looks at each other's hair. Hinata's was her black-purple color with blonde streaks, coming up into that point that her hair goes to in the back. Temari's was blonde—fading into bright red—fading into dark red on the ends. With the dark red on the ends it made her pony tails look double-colored. Ten Ten's hair was really strange, but it looked good on her all the same. Bright red mixed with her dark brown locks to be pulled into blonde buns. She had done her buns differently than usual, so that bits of bright red hair stuck out in the middles. And Sakura. Sakura was most colorful of them all. To someone who didn't know of her already oddly colored hair, it would look as if she had dyed her hair five different colors. Ten Ten knew the blonde would accent her pink hair, but both reds would do the same, and also no one had used the black yet. Ten Ten had gone all out. All colors. There were little bits of blonde here and there, but mostly it was pink, red, and dark red running in linear streaks. Black strings mixed into the dark red, but also stood out visibly. Especially in her bangs. They all stared at each other.

"Oh…my…god," Temari said quietly. "We are so gonna blow the guys away!" her voice had become a high squeal (A/N yeah, yeah, OOC). They all giggled.

_All the guys stared at the girls on the screen. Their hair looked different…but only shades of grey. Gaara was having a mental battle with himself. 'ok, the darkest grey is the dark red, and the lighter grey is the bright red, and the lightest grey is her usual pink…or is blonde? Wait…isn't the darkest grey black? No…it would be black… DAMMIT!' Only when the other guys looked at him questioningly did he realize he had cursed out loud._

"Ok what now?" Sakura asked eagerly. The hair had taken only about an hour, as Temari had predicted, and none of them were tired.

"How bout dress up?" Hinata asked timidly. The all beamed at her. "Great!" Sakura said. "I'll go get all my stuff!" they watched her run upstairs and the rest of the girls ate some food and waited. Sakura soon returned with piles upon piles of clothes.

"Hey I haven't seen some of this stuff in weeks!" Temari said happily. Sakura rolled her eyes. "So how do we play this?"

"Well ok, one person is singled out of the group and the others pick out the outfit. Then the person _has _to put it on, even if they don't like it," Ten Ten explained, shooting a look in the direction of Hinata, who stuck out her tongue playfully and crossed her arms. _All the guys leaned forward. Last time the girls had done this they had turned out really sexy. No telling what they would look like this time._

"I volunteer!" Sakura said happily, waving her arm in the air. Ten Ten smiled. "Ok, go sit over there and keep your eyes closed. You're not supposed to see the outfit until we give it to you." Sakura nodded and hopped out of her seat to go across the room. She turned her back on her friends and focused on a very interesting spot on the wall. _The guys watched Ten Ten, Temari, and Hinata sift through the enormous mound of clothes. Their eyes widened (especially Gaara's) when the three girls walked over to Sakura with what they had picked out. _Sakura looked at the clothes then smiled and ran to thebathroom.

After about five minutes Sakura emerged. _The guys only saw her in black and white, but they were still amazed. _She was wearing a mesh net shirt under a very tight tank top that came a few inches above her belly button, exposing her perfect stomach. The tank was white with a red broken heart on it. Clothes pins were clipped all over the straps and on the edge. She was wearing black cargo capris that had little chains hanging off them. Fishnets covered her arms, as well as some of her bracelets. _Gaara knew she had curves, but he had never seen them so well defined. His breath was shortening at seeing Sakura like this. _I know when you imagine her outfit, it probably doesn't seem too… _risqué_… but trust me, it was—and it gave Gaara his first nosebleed. _He turned away from the other guys and wiped his bloody nose, cursing at himself. None of the other guys had the power to take their eyes off Sakura._

The other girls cat-called and wolf-whistled to Sakura. "Ow, ow, Sakura!" called Temari. "You're a babe!" Sakura blushed and started doing random poses as if she were at a photo shoot. The other girls giggled.

"Ok, who's next?" Sakura asked. Ten Ten volunteered and went to sit on the other side of the room.

Sakura, Temari, and Hinata looked the clothes once again. They giggled and walked over to Ten Ten with the clothes in their hands. Ten Ten went into the bathroom and they were silent for a couple of seconds…

"HELL NO!" came Ten Ten's voice from the bathroom. _The guys raised their eyebrows in curiosity._ The girls walked over to the door.

"It's the rules, Ten Ten. You have to wear it." Said Hinata giggling.

"No, no, no, and no! I am not wearing this!" Ten Ten started to open the door, but Temari pulled it shut. "Please, Ten Ten? It's just us girls! We promise!" _The guys smirked._

"Argh!" pause. "I hate you! I hate you all!"

"We love you too!" Sakura said sweetly. Ten Ten yanked the door open with a very unhappy look on her face. All the other girls beamed. _The guys couldn't see anyth76ing until the four girls reentered the room. All their eyes widened, and Neji's jaw dropped to the floor._

Ten Ten was wearing a tight black t-shirt that said '100 of all people who eat yogurt DIE' and fishnet on one arm, but that's not what they were all staring at. Ten Ten…THE Ten Ten…was wearing a miniskirt. Never EVER by her own free will would Ten Ten wear a skirt of any kind, let alone a _miniskirt. _Especially one that was tight, black, and came about mid-thigh. Her look was completed with red and black striped knee socks. _It was now Neji's turn to have a nosebleed. All the guys looked at him in shock. "WHAT?" he asked angrily, wiping his nose clean. They said nothing._

"Wow, Ten Ten, if you want Neji to notice you, that's what you need to wear." Hinata said.

"Definitely. Hell, you should wear that if you want any guy's attention." Temari said, eyeing her friend. Sakura nodded. Ten Ten blushed but then crossed her arms.

"Alright, who next?"

Temari was up next, and after a while they sent her to the bathroom with a small bundle of clothes. She emerged a few minutes later. _Shikamaru stared, and Gaara and Kankuro glared at him. _Temari was wearing grey cargo pants, a black halter top with a red cat on it, and red fishnets on her arms. The halter top was pulled back and tied to show part of her tummy. It was subtler than her normal look and looked great on her. _Shikamaru made a very loud gulping noise, causing the rest of the guys to look at him. He didn't notice and only stared at the small figure of Temari on the computer screen. _

"Hey, you look pretty good!" Sakura said, smiling at the blonde. Temari smiled back. "As apposed to what usually?" she asked jokingly. They all laughed, but then turned and looked evilly at Hinata. She whimpered, and they pointed to the seat across the room.

"Your turn Hinata," Ten Ten said, smirking madly. Hinata's eyes widened in fear and she slowly walked over to the other side of the room. _The guys watched as Sakura, Temari, and Ten Ten picked through shirts and pants and skirts, tossing each aside. They couldn't see what they kept, for the girls' backs were to them, but they could be heard giggling madly._ "Ok!" called Sakura. Hinata slowly turned around and walked back over. She frowned slightly, for she wasn't able to make out what exactly was in the small bundle of clothes. They hurried her to the bathroom and waited in silence for a few minutes.

"You guys are evil!" Hinata called from inside the bathroom, putting the other three girls into a fit of giggles. "Aw, c'mon, Hinata!" Ten Ten said, opening the door slightly. Hinata emerged. _As they all reentered the living room, almost all the guys fell backwards._

Hinata was wearing black baggy bell-bottoms (that they had bought from a really cool seventies store), a small black tank top—smaller than Sakura's—and a red fishnet shirt over it. Bracelets ringed her arms and a black chocker necklace was around her neck.

_Naruto couldn't take his eyes off the screen. Neji could, but only for a couple of seconds at a time. His baby cousin! They were practically the same age, but he still considered Hinata his baby cousin, if not his baby sister. How could she dress like that? When did she get curves? He looked around at all the guys, who were all looking at the screen in amazement. His gaze rested on Naruto, who was unknowingly drooling. He whacked the blonde in the head._

"Wow! Hinata! You look great!" Sakura said, hugging the white eyed girl. "Neji would kill ya though,"

They all laughed and went back into the living room. Sakura looked around. "So…now we do make up right?" she asked. The others nodded and they sat in the middle of the floor. It was much like the previous game, with one person singled out while the rest do her make up. Temari went first and ended up with red and gold eyes to match her hair, and just a touch of red lipstick. Hinata was given black eyeliner with golden eye shadow with red edges. Her lips shimmered with gloss. Ten Ten had grey eyeliner that darkened as it went out into the eye shadow. Her lips shimmered also. Sakura was last, and the other girls had taken the longest on her, because they had so many colors to match in her hair. Her eyes were gold in the corners that faded into pink that darkened into red as it went out. She wore black eyeliner and pink lightly glistened on her lips. Each of the girls drew a shape on their cheek. Ten Ten had a star, Hinata had a flower, Temari had a clover (A/N shut up, I couldn't think of anything else -.-), and Sakura had a heart. They all giggled at each other's outrageous make up. _Of course the guys could only see different shades of grey color on the girls' faces._

"Well we're all dressed up, what now?" asked Sakura. She had just realized how strange it would be to get all dressed up and then take it all off again. Hinata smiled.

"You have a camera?"

Sakura nodded in realization. She smiled. "Yeah I'll go get it!" They watched her disappear upstairs and return with a digital camera. They smiled.

_The guys watched while each girl would do a different funny pose, sometimes alone, sometimes with someone else. All the guys smirked. They __needed__ those pictures for blackmail. Oh yes…_

Sakura giggled and snapped a shot f Temari and Ten Ten acting like Sasuke had just asked them out (that was the challenge). Temari looked like she was about to sneeze and the picture had caught Ten Ten in mid-blink, so she looked like she was about to be sick. They all giggled at the picture.

"_Well ok, they did their hair, they dressed up, then they played with make up, so shouldn't we crash their party pretty soon?" asked Kiba. Naruto looked up in confusion._

"_Why would we do that?"_

"_Are you really that stupid?" Kankuro asked. "It's only about 12:30 am, and clubs all around town are just now opening. We're going to kidnap them and take them dancing again. It'll be hilarious."_

_Naruto grinned, but then frowned. "But, I don't want anyone to see Hinata like that." Neji nodded._

"_I second that. It goes for Ten Ten and the other girls too. They're dressed way more…err…than last time." All the guys mulled this over and nodded. Instead they planned an ambush with cameras. Or something along the lines of that…_

Sakura sighed. She was having so much fun. She grinned at the thought of what her parents would think when they got home and found four girls dressed in party clothes crashed in the living room. She giggled. "You guys are awesome! I don't think I've ever had this much fun!" Sakura said happily. The other girls smiled warmly at her. "Hey, hey Sakura, we still have lots of stuff to do. We have all night remember?" they giggled. "Yeah I forgot about that," Sakura admitted. They suddenly heard the doorbell ring.

"What the hell?" Temari said, looking at the door curiously. "Who the hell goes around to people's house this late at night and rings their doorbell?"

"Maybe it's a neighbor who needs a cup of sugar!" Ten Ten said giggling. Sakura smiled at her.

"I don't think we should open it, Sakura," Hinata said with fright in her voice.

"I don't think so either, but I'm going to check who it is through the window," Sakura reassured her friend and headed to the front door. She peeked through the window, as did the others, but they didn't see anything.

"Who the hell plays ding-dong-ditch at fricken 12:30 AM?" Temari asked angrily. Sakura suddenly felt something—or someone rather—grab her from behind and hold her wrists together tightly. She tried to scream or say something at least, but a hand covered her mouth. She saw the other girls' eyes widen but she blinked and they were gone; hidden behind the bodies of three other people, dragging them in the same direction that Sakura herself was now being dragged. She bit the hand over her mouth, but it didn't move. She wriggled and twisted, but couldn't free herself from the strong grip. What was happening?!

The person that was holding Sakura hostage dragged her over to chair, holding her tightly the whole time. She was forced to sit down and she felt her hands being tied in the back. The hand over her mouth was removed, but only to cover her eyes. She was too afraid to make a sound. Sakura felt someone's hot breath in her ear. Tears started forming in her eyes. She was scared.

"Guess who."

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olly: Whee! a cliff-hanger! though most of you can probably already guess who it is. anyways, please review. thanks!


	11. Chapter 11

Olly: ahh! sorry bout the delay guys! the end of the school year is one week away and everything's been a little crazy. i hadn't really thought my cliff hanger was that big of a deal. please dont yell at me anymore! alrighty then here's chapter 11!

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Disclaimer: Don't own Naruto...or Wall Mart

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Recap:

The person that was holding Sakura hostage dragged her over to chair, holding her tightly the whole time. She was forced to sit down and she felt her hands being tied in the back. The hand over her mouth was removed, but only to cover her eyes. She was too afraid to make a sound. Sakura felt someone's hot breath in her ear. Tears started forming in her eyes. She was scared.

"Guess who."

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Sakura immediately recognized the deep husky voice that had made her melt so many times. Emotions started running through her—relief, happiness, confusion, realization, anger…

"GAARA!"

She heard him chuckle and he uncovered her eyes. She looked over to her left to see the other three girls also tied to chairs. Temari was glaring and baring her teeth like an angry dog, Ten Ten was blank faced, but her eye was twitching, and poor Hinata looked as if she might have had a seizure. Sakura guessed she had been so afraid that they had rendered her speechless. She snapped her head to look the smirking Gaara in the eyes. He chuckled again and stood to walk over to the other guys, who were all standing in front of the four trapped girls.

"Well frankly, I'm disappointed," Kankuro said shaking his head sadly. "We thought you girls would put up more of a fight."

"Yeah, what if we had been real kidnappers? Would you have reacted the same way?" Neji asked. All the girls just stared at him.

"YOU FILTHY BASTARDS!"

They all looked at the red faced, white eyed girl who had suddenly had that outburst. She was panting and looked on the verge of tears. Naruto took a step forward with worry in his eyes, but Temari growled at him, so he stepped back.

"I agree with Hinata," Sakura said coldly. Gaara smirked at her, but she turned her head away in anger, and his face softened a little. Had they gone too far? Temari had no trouble answering their question.

"I can't believe you! This time you really went too far. We're not forgiving you this time! NOW UNTIE US DAMMIT!!" she started rocking back and forth, trying to untie herself, but had no such luck.

"It was just a joke," Kiba said. "Be thankful. This time we're not taking you anywhere." He crossed his arms, and Ten Ten narrowed her eyes on him.

"You mean to say you were going to keep us here. And do what with us exactly?" All the girls snapped their attention on Kiba, and he suddenly felt cornered.

"Nothing. We were just going to scare you is all." Naruto said quietly. He felt really horrible about making Hinata cry.

"Whoop-dee-fuckin-doo…you accomplished that. Now untie us and get the hell outta my house!" Sakura said angrily. All the guys looked at her.

"It was just a joke, Sakura. Really!" Kankuro said, holding up his hands defensively.

"…not…funny…" Hinata said quietly. She was crying freely now, but was trying her best to stop. The guys looked painfully at her, especially Naruto and Neji. Naruto quickly went behind Hinata and untied the ropes binding her hands. She stood and walked to the bathroom, closing the door behind her.

"Way to go, dip shits, you made Hinata cry. You just had to ruin our whole night didn't you?" Temari said angrily while Shikamaru untied her hands. She stood up in a huff and went over to the bathroom. "Hinata," she said. "It's me, open up." They watched as Temari disappeared into the bathroom as well.

Neji went to untie Ten Ten, and she glared at the back of his head the whole time. Once she was free she cast a nasty glare towards the guys and walked over to the bathroom, also disappearing inside.

Gaara stood with his arms crossed, as Sakura sat there, the only one not untied. He waited for someone to go untie her, but when he looked over at the other guys they were looking expectantly of him. "Oh," he said stupidly and walked behind Sakura.

He stoked her fingers gently, hoping it would make her less angry, but he only received a stab in his finger with one of her particularly sharp fingernails. Gaara winced and untied the rope around her wrists. She rubbed her wrists for a second but then stood and looked at all the guys angrily.

"Get out."

"What?" asked Kankuro stupidly.

"Get out."

"Well what do you mean?" Naruto asked.

"I mean get out," she said irritably. "You six are trespassing on my family's property. Get out now, before I call the police."

"You wouldn't call the cops on us," Kiba said unsurely.

"After what you just did I might." She glared at them, and they looked at the floor as if it was the most interesting thing in world. "But first," she said. "Tell me how you got in."

Neji grimaced and said, "Well we climbed through the window while you were at the door."

"And how exactly did you get the window open? Because I know for a fact that all the windows were locked." She looked at each of them in turn, her gaze landing longest on Gaara. He looked up to meet her eyes.

"I did it," he said. "What?" Sakura asked. "I did it," Gaara repeated. "I got the window open." Sakura knew it was true, from how he admitted it. She didn't need to ask how.

Sakura nodded and pointed to the front door. Shikamaru led the guilty group. They walked out the door and she closed it behind them. "Shit, we screwed up," Kiba said, rubbing the back of his head. The others guys nodded. "We need to give them a really good apology," Naruto said, looking sadly at the ground. "A _really _good apology." He was still very upset at making Hinata cry. The poor fox boy felt absolutely devastated. The others guys nodded, except for Gaara. Secretly he felt the same way, though. Only that afternoon he and Sakura had become so much more than just friends, and he had already screwed it up.

"Flowers."

The others looked at the speaker: Shikamaru. "Girls like flowers, right?" The others considered this idea. Kankuro leaned against the door. "How about just the crushes get flowers? Kiba and I haven't got anyone to give flowers to." Kiba nodded. Gaara's face showed distaste. They would look really stupid holding out flowers to the girls, and also, the girls might not accept their apology. What would they do with the stupid things then? Plant them in a garden? He sighed.

"Well…" he said. "I guess we better get going." The other guys followed him back down the road to their cars.

Sakura leaned her back against the door. The guys had practically ruined her whole night, not to mention the other's girls' too. She also wondered if they had been watching them since they supposedly _'left'_. She looked over at the bathroom door. "Hey guys," she called loudly. "They're gone, you can come out now."

Temari came out first; she still looked angry. Ten Ten came out with an arm around the shaking Hinata's shoulder. Her eye make up had run from crying, and she held some crumpled tissue paper in her hand. Sakura went over and gave the girl a hug. "Oh Hinata, are you ok?"

Hinata's voice cracked when she talked, and for some reason it reminded sakura of a beaten puppy dog. She was back to stuttering. "I-I'm o-ok S-Sakura." She gave a weak smile, but it wasn't very convincing.

"She's not good with scary movies and stuff like that. Especially after the one we watched tonight, and then the guys pretended to be kidnappers. Not cool…not cool at all," Ten Ten said scowling. Some of her hair was falling out of the buns, and she looked like she wanted to punch something.

"I am so gonna kick their asses," Temari said, cracking her knuckles. "But I'll need back-up, Sakura?"

Sakura smiled. "It'd be six against two, Temari, consider the odds."

Temari smirked. "Yeah, but they can't hit girls. We have a slight advantage." The giggled, and Sakura got an idea.

"Hey, you know what I do when I'm upset or something?" she asked with a smile. The other girls looked curiously at her. "I bake something. It relieves stress and then you get to eat it."

"t-that sounds f-fun." Hinata said quietly. Ten Ten hugged her and they made their way to the kitchen. "Alright," Sakura said. "It's lots more fun to make by scratch, so I get everything ready." She opened a closet and pulled out four cooking aprons (A/N why they have four cooking aprons? I don't know XO ) and threw three of them to Temari, who passed them around. Sakura put on her own apron and started pulling out random things. "Ok," she said. "Cake, pie, cupcakes?"

"I like cookies," Ten Ten said. "Chocolate chunk cookies!"

Temari scowled and folded her arms. "Well I like cookies with little toffee bits in them."

Hinata looked at them both before saying, "I like vanilla chip cookies."

Sakura looked at each girl in turn, then smiled. "And I like chocolate pecan cookies." The other three looked around unsurely. "Let's mix them all together! Any objections?" The others smiled and told her no, so Sakura pulled out chocolate chips, vanilla chips, toffee chips, and pecans, along with the other ingredients for making cookies. Temari, Ten Ten, and Hinata kind of stood off to the side a little, but soon they were each mixing their own bowl of dough, occasionally flicking some at each other. Ten Ten spilled sugar everywhere, and Temari slipped in it. They all laughed and screamed and teased before cleaning it up. Sakura pre-heated the oven. Her dough had pecans in it, Hinata's had vanilla chips, Temari's had toffee chips, and Ten Ten's had chocolate chips. When all the dough was ready they put it all in one big bowl and mixed it together, laughing and chatting as they did so. Sakura was happy that they were still able to have a good time.

Everyone's mood was lifted and they all spooned some of the concoction dough onto a cookie sheet. Sakura put it in the oven and set a timer for twenty minutes. They sat in the kitchen and talked for a while. None of them brought up the guys. They talked about normal girl things—clothes, movie stars, clothes, make up, clothes—and so on. Ten Ten took Hinata back to the bathroom and fixed her make up. Soon the timer went off and Sakura pulled the cookies out of the oven and set them on the table. They all stared at them.

The cookies were definitely not a pretty site to see. They were lumpy and jagged and the multicolored chips stuck out here and there, making the cookies different shades of milky yellow, darkened brown, sticky orange, and toasted nut color. Sakura looked sadly at the cookies. They had gone through all the trouble of making the cookies and the poor things didn't even look edible in the least. She looked back at all they had done. Sakura was sure she had measured everything out right when they made the dough. What could've gone wrong?

"They look disgusting!" Temari said, sticking her tongue out. Ten Ten nodded and Hinata just looked at them sadly. Sakura went over everything they had done nearly three times in her head before she decided that they had done everything right. She glared at the disfigured cookies and took a spatula from the counter. Carefully Sakura lifted a cookie of the sheet and delicately brought it up to her mouth. She thought about taking just a small bite, but the decided 'what the heck'? She took a huge bite out of the cookie. Temari and Ten Ten and Hinata all looked at her in shock, but said nothing because they were also curious at how the cookies would turn out.

Sakura almost choked in surprise. She couldn't even taste the cookie. All she could taste was chocolate and toffee and vanilla. As she chewed there was the occasional crunch of a pecan. It was _sooo _good! She closed her eyes to enjoy it. Soon however, she had to sadly swallow, and the cookie left some toffee sweetness to linger in her mouth. She finished the cookie in one bite.

"Well?" Temari asked. Sakura looked up at her friends. She nodded and took two more cookies for herself. They looked at her a little surprised, and each took one of the soft, warm, ugly cookies. Carefully each girl took a bite, and all went through the state of shock and surprise that Sakura had gone through. After five minutes, half the cookie tray was cleared, and Sakura was secretly thankful they still had a huge bowl of cookie dough to bake.

"Damn, we're pretty good cooks!" Temari said. They giggled. Sakura put the rest of the cookies on a plate, and they spooned some more dough on the sheet. Ten Ten carefully placed it in the still hot oven. Suddenly the door bell rang.

All the girls' attention swept around the room. Then they heard knocking at the door. "I'm not going to answer it," Sakura stated, crossing her arms. "It's probably the guys again."

Hinata crossed her arms as well. "If they thought the last thing was funny, and now they want to do it again? Argh! They can be so horrible sometimes!"

Again knocking was heard on the door, and muffled voices. They recognized Naruto's loud voice above the others. "SAKURA! HINATA! TEN TEN! TEMARI! IT'S US! WE WANT TO APOLOGIZE!"

Sakura made a sound of disgust. "They're going to wake the neighbors." She stated plainly. As much as she didn't want to see them right now, she had to save her poor neighbors' ears. She walked over to the door and opened it, not a crack, but just enough so she could see them all.

It was Kiba and Kankuro in the front, and the other guys were lined up behind; each of the four had a plastic bag in hand. Gaara was blank faced, Shikamaru looked bored, Neji was looking at the ground, and Naruto was smiling weakly. She glared at all of them. "What do you want?" she demanded.

"To apologize," Kiba said. "We didn't think you would get so mad at us. We're sorry." He looked behind Sakura. Temari, Ten Ten, and Hinata were standing a little ways behind her. He gave a small wave to them. They only glared back. Kiba's hand fell limply back to his side.

Kankuro grunted and shuffled his feet. "Could we come in?" he asked. Sakura looked at him. She was a little surprised that he would have the nerve to ask such a thing. "Why should I let you in? You're all jack asses." She said coldly.

"We know," Neji said. It was the first time he had spoken. "You don't have to,"

Naruto kind of glared at him but then turned to Sakura. "We just wanted to really say we're sorry,"

"To each of you individually." Shikamaru finished. Sakura looked at each guy in turn, her eyes lingering on Gaara for just a couple seconds longer than the others. He gazed into her eyes as intensely as he could without letting the other guys notice. Sakura swallowed hard and looked back at the other girls. The all held the same pose, arms crossed, glares apparent. Sakura sighed. "Fine."

All the guys looked at her in shock and their moods seemed to lift as she opened the door to let them in. Sakura closed the door once they were all inside and they waited for her command. She only walked into the living room with the other girls. They hesitated a moment but then followed. All four girls were lounging on the couch, waiting for their explanation. Kankuro cleared his throat, and Naruto jumped. The blond made his way to the front.

"Hinata?" he asked quietly, looking at Hinata. The girl took some deep breaths and answered. "Yes?" Naruto chuckled nervously and asked, "Can I see you in the other room please?" Hinata looked questioningly at her friends, but they didn't have an answer. She gulped and stood, allowing Naruto to lead her into the room down the hall.

Once they were gone Ten Ten looked back at the guys and started to ask them what that was all about, but Neji spoke up before her. "Ten Ten?" she blinked at him. He motioned that he wanted to leave the over crowded room. She looked around and then to Sakura and Temari for support. Like before, they couldn't help her, so she stood and followed Neji out of the room.

Temari looked expectantly at Shikamaru, and he didn't even have to say anything. All he did was look at her and she stood, grumbling something that no one could understand. He led her out of the room. All that was left was Kiba, Kankuro, Gaara, and Sakura.

"Do I smell cookies?" Kankuro asked, eyeing the doorway to the kitchen. Sakura glared. "Yes and you're not getting any so forget it."

"Oh, ok." Kiba said a little sadly. Gaara arched an eyebrow at them but then looked at Sakura. She sat with her legs crossed and her arms folded across her chest. Like hell was he going to ask her permission for anything in front of the other guys. Gaara held out his hand to her.

Sakura cocked her head questioningly at his hand, but then sighed and took it. He pulled her to stand and led her into the kitchen, only because it was closer than the rooms down the hall.

Once they were gone Kiba grunted. "Dammit! They went into the kitchen." he said angrily. "I wanted a cookie!"

Gaara glared at the two guys still remaining in the living room. They caught his drift and headed out of the room. He turned back to Sakura, who was already sitting at the table. "Uhh, hey." He said stupidly.

She rolled her eyes. "Oh yeah, great explanation." Gaara fought back the urge to glare at her sarcasm. He sighed.

"Look, I'm sorry. I don't know what else to say." He said, placing the plastic bag on the counter and shoving his hands in his pockets. Sakura crossed her arms again.

"Why don't you tell me why you did that after this afternoon?" she demanded. He cringed but then regained his blank face.

"I don't know." He said shrugging. "We did it to the girls last time and we had a great time."

"Yes but you didn't sneak up behind them and pretend to be fucking kidnappers or robbers or something horrible like that!" Sakura said angrily. She stood up and had her fists clinched. "Last time they knew it was you! You don't know how fucking scared we were!"

She was breathing a little heavily now. Sakura couldn't tell, but Gaara was starting to feel a little concerned. Had they really scared them that bad? He watched Sakura walk across the room angrily, no doubt trying to distance herself from him. Damn, he had really messed up.

"Sakura we're sorry. We thought that we'd be laughing it off by now. We created this whole plan to come and apologize to you guys. We even got these."

He picked up the plastic bag off the counter and walked up to Sakura with it. He stopped a few feet in front of her and removed the bag from whatever it was covering. Sakura gasped.

It was a perfect pink cherry blossom (A/N surprise surprise! lol—it used to be a rose, but Athena's Guard reminded me that Sakura was _cherry blossom_. Oops, my bad. But whatever, cherry blossom is better right?). The petals had little droplets of water on them, as though the flower had just been saved from a rain shower. He handed it to her, and she took it hesitantly.

"I still feel the same way I did this afternoon, and I'm really sorry. I hope I didn't screw things up." He said quietly (A/N omg, who knew Gaara could be so romantic? XO OOC!!). Sakura touched the petals of the cherry blossom delicately. She sighed.

"No, you didn't." she leaned closer and rested her head on his chest. He wrapped his arms around her and kissed the top of her head. "Where the heck did you get a cherry blossom at nearly two a.m.?" she asked.

"Thank God for Wal-Mart, right?"

Sakura giggled into his shirt. She looked up into his face and gave him a small kiss. They heard voices in the living room, and looked up to see the couples reentering, as well as Kiba and Kankuro. Gaara reluctantly released Sakura and she found a vase to put her blossom in before they both walked into the living room.

Hinata was standing shyly next to Naruto, holding a white lily. Shikamaru was smirking as Temari was holding onto his arm with a grin on her face. In her right hand she was clutching a handful of beautiful daisies. Ten Ten was standing next to Neji, blushing. She held two carnations; one white, one purple. All the girls looked at Sakura, who didn't have a flower. They looked at her with pity, thinking she hadn't received one. Gaara just stood there.

The room was silent until a timer suddenly went off. All the girls jumped, suddenly remembering the cookies. Kiba had already guessed what it was. "Now can I have a cookie?" he asked.

All the girls giggled and they went into kitchen. After a few minutes they returned carrying two plates of cookies. The guys raised their eyebrows at the ugly things piled on the plates.

"On second thought, I'd rather not have one," Kiba said, looking questioningly at the repulsive looking things. Sakura laughed. "Oh just eat one!" she said, handing him a cookie. "They're good." He stared at the ugly cookie but then threw it across the room to Kankuro. "Here Kankuro, you can have the first one."

Kankuro shook his head and threw it to Shikamaru, who didn't even say anything and only passed it to Neji. Neji looked at it unsurely but then passed it to Naruto. The blonde held it away from his face. "I don't want to eat it!" he said loudly, making all the girls glare at him. Gaara rolled his eyes and said, "You dip shits."

He took the cookie out of Naruto's hand and bit into it. He was surprised at how good it tasted, and finished it quickly. Everyone but Sakura was staring at him in pure shock. "What?" he asked.

"Gaara!" Temari gasped. "I don't think I've ever seen you eat a cookie before!" All the others nodded. Gaara rolled his eyes and took another cookie. He chucked it at Kiba's head. "Ow!" Kiba voiced, rubbing his head. "What was that for?"

Gaara shrugged. "You said you wanted a cookie. Just eat it already." Kiba glared at him and picked up the cookie lying beside him. "Geez fine." He said. He brushed off the cookie and ate it. All the girls crossed their arms as he swallowed and looked at them in shock.

"They're awesome!"

"Told you so."

"Sorry," he said, taking another cookie and eating it in two bites. The other guys tried the cookies too and immediately liked them. Everyone sat down. The order around the room was: Naruto, Hinata, Sakura, Kiba, Ten Ten, Neji, Gaara, Temari, Shikamaru, and Kankuro. All the guys were secretly wondering why Gaara and Sakura weren't sitting next to each other. They also wondered why she didn't have the cherry blossom. Had she not accepted Gaara's apology? Surely she did, or else she would still be acting angry. They decided to say nothing and ask Gaara later. Soon chat arose.

"You girls look good!" Kiba said loudly. All the girls realized they were still dressed from their game. Hinata immediately became embarrassed and hugged herself.

"Oh shut up!" Ten Ten said blushing.

"Yeah, all you guys are jerks!" Temari said. She tried to look serious, but a smirk was tugging at her lips.

"I think Sakura looks especially good." Kankuro said, arching an eyebrow. Gaara glared at him and Sakura blushed.

"Well…yeah…but the other girls look pretty too…especially Hinata!" Naruto said. The poor girl instantly blushed redder than her fishnet shirt.

Neji glared at the blonde then looked at Ten Ten. "You look great." He said quietly, though the whole room could hear him. Ten Ten blinked at him in surprise, because she couldn't remember the last time she had received an actual complement from Neji. She blushed a dark pink. Some of the other guys wolf-whistled them. Neji glared at them. "Shut up!" he said angrily.

"Well hey, what about me?" Temari asked angrily with her arms crossed. Shikamaru smirked.

"You look sexy." He said.

Kankuro and Gaara blinked a bunch then glared at Shikamaru. Temari blushed slightly and gave him a big grin. She pulled him into a bone crushing hug.

"Let me go!" he practically gasped. Temari giggled and released him. He rolled his eyes. "God, you're so troublesome sometimes." Temari shrugged. "Hey, do guys like our hair?"

"Yes!" Naruto said. "I really like Hinata's blonde streaks!" Hinata blushed and smiled triumphantly to the others girls who only rolled their eyes.

"Twenty's hair is pretty cool, too. I like it better than last time." Kankuro said.

"Thanks," she said but then her expression changed. "And what was wrong with my hair last time?" Then her expression changed yet again, this time to anger. "And dammit Kankuro, don't call me Twenty!" They all laughed at her slow brain on that one.

"Temari's is cool." Kiba said. "I like how it gets darker like that," Shikamaru put in. Temari tried to pull him into another hug, but this time he was able to scramble away just in time.

"Sakura's is awesome." Kiba said, grinning at her (Gaara glared at him too). Everyone looked at Sakura's pink, blonde, red, dark red, and black locks. She blushed. "Yeah, who did her hair?" Neji asked. All the guys rolled their eyes. They all knew Ten Ten had done her hair. Neji just wanted an excuse to talk to her again. Ten Ten blushed and said, "Me."

"You did good." Neji said smirking at her. She smiled and blushed harder.

"Yeah when you guys are alone you become completely different people!" Naruto said, hands comfortably behind his head in his friendly pose. All the guys' hearts stopped when the girls arched their eyebrows at the blonde. Each guy was having his own personal battle with himself, trying to restrain from strangling the stupid fox boy. All five of them had the same things running through their minds. _That stupid air headed idiot secret-letting-outing dumb ass dip shit! _Naruto suddenly realized his mistake had had the wonderful idea of changing the subject.

"Hey Gaara!"

"What?"

"Say cookie again!"

"Why?"

"Just do it!"

"No."

"Aww, please?"

"No."

"Just once?"

"…"

"Just once! Just say cookie!"

"Why?"

"Just say it already!"

-sigh- "…cookie…"

Every one burst out laughing, except Gaara.

"What the hell?"

"It's funny to hear you say cookie!"

(-.-) "Why?"

"Because you're _Gaara_. Gaara doesn't say stuff like 'cookie'."

"hn."

"See? That's usually your whole vocabulary."

"Shut up."

"And that. That's you're vocabulary. 'hn' and 'shut up'. And maybe 'shut the fuck up'. You'll probably say that next right?"

"Grr!"

"Oh yeah, and growling. Does growling count as talking?"

(Sakura) "I don't know. I asked him that once. He almost pushed me out of the tree."

"No I didn't!"

"I was kidding Gaara."

"Shut up you guys! Hinata's asleep!" Naruto said. It was true. They looked over to see Hinata asleep on Naruto's shoulder, who in turn was looking at her fondly. They weren't sure how she had fallen asleep so quickly, because she had been awake just about thirty seconds ago. They all silently decided that poor quiet Hinata just wasn't hard core enough to stay up so late. She would've passed out sooner or later. Naruto smiled caringly and carefully adjusted his position so that Hinata could be a little more comfortable. Sakura smiled at the two and Neji glared at them, but remained seated. Sakura stood up and took the lily lying next to Hinata. She took it to the kitchen and put it in the vase with her cherry blossom. They continued talking, except a little quieter. Everyone was finally becoming sleepy, except Gaara. It was already nearly three a.m. After a while, everyone started drifting off to sleep.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------olly: alright, maybe its not the best chapter i've written but at least thres no cliff hangers.

gaara and others: you made us seem all sappy! and...and sad! and...

olly: and i know it was really OOC. sorry bout that guys. R&R please!


	12. Chapter 12

olly: hello all! school's finally out! yeh! im going to try and finish up TTWM in the next month or so and then i'd like to start on a new story. prefferably not HS. i'll be glad to take requests, but no yaoi or yuri. not that i have anything against it, im just not sure how i would write it. anyways, enough with the announcements already! on with chapter 12!

neji: this chapter better be good, especially after that last disgustingly sappy one

shikamaru: yeah. buying flowers? that was a total drag.

girls: -collective glare-

naruto: can't they just read the story now?

olly: fine fine! chapter 12!

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Disclaimer: Don't own naruto.

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Gaara looked around the room at the same sight he'd seen since four a.m. Hinata and Naruto were snuggled close, sharing half of a couch, still in their clothes from yesterday. The other half of the couch was occupied by Neji and Ten Ten. Neji lay with his head on the arm of the couch, with his arm wrapped around Ten Ten's middle. Her head was resting on his other arm, which was under her head like a pillow. Kiba had been kicked off the couch around 3:30 and he was snoring on the floor and drooling into the carpet, with a half eaten cookie in his hand. On the other side of the couch Gaara was laying on, Shikamaru and Temari were sharing an armchair. Temari was sitting in Shikamaru's lap, with her arms wrapped around his neck. She had his shoulder as a pillow, and his pillow was the top of her head. Kankuro had an armchair of his own, and was sprawled out on it, arms and legs hanging off the edges.

Gaara smirked at his friends and looked down at his 'blanket'. Sometime during the early hours of the morning, Sakura had made her way over to Gaara's couch. She had been half asleep (though Gaara had been fully awake) when she wandered over and fell asleep next to him on the couch. That arrangement would've been perfectly fine, but there wasn't enough space on the small couch, so he had pulled himself to lay under her, and she hadn't cared, and so it had been for nearly four hours.

He sighed and played with the now multicolored locks of Sakura's hair. She nuzzled her head into his chest and mumbled something in her sleep. Amazingly, her make up still looked the same. Gaara looked at her beautiful form. She looked absolutely sexy with her new outfit and hair, but he wouldn't have cared what she wore. Hell, even in paint clothes she looked good. He had realized that yesterday. He played with her hair some more.

Gaara still hadn't told her his feelings. He didn't know what to do. He had never had a crush before, let alone a girlfriend. That was another thing. Was Sakura his girlfriend? Sure it had only been less than a day since they confessed their crushes on each other. Did that count as dating? He'd have to ask Sakura later.

Also, something else was nagging at the back of his head. When were her parents going to get home? It was already almost eight o'clock. It wouldn't be very good if they walked in right now. There was Sakura's mound of unused clothes, make up, empty ice cream cartons, cookie crumbs, and empty plates and glasses littered all over the floor, not to mention the people all around the room. Six guys, four girls, one guy on the floor, one guy in an arm chair, and the rest in girl/boy pairs sleeping together in different parts of the room. Because of the girls' outfits, it looked as if they had gone clubbing and brought home the guys. And the sight of their daughter sleeping on top of a guy would probably give Sakura's parents the wrong idea, even though everyone was fully clothed. Nothing like that had happened last night, but that's not what Sakura's parents would think. He chuckled.

Sakura had said her parents worked a lot. Could it be possible that they worked on Saturdays? Even if by some chance that they did, and the group was able to clean up the house before they came home, Sakura's parents would still be in for a shock. For one, they would find their daughter's room miraculously painted and Sakura's new hair and the hideous cookies all over the kitchen. He smirked at how Sakura would explain all that to them.

Sakura snuggled up to whatever she was hugging. It was warm and soft and smelled good. It was a musky smell and for some reason also had the faint scent of cookies. She liked the smell, and nuzzled her head closer to whatever the scent was coming from. The thing moved and hugged her tightly. What the hell? She opened her eyes.

The brightness of morning made Sakura's eyes squint, and she tried to pull up, only to be pulled back down by a pair of strong arms. Sakura lifted her head a little to look at the smirking face of Gaara. She blinked sleepily at him. Looking around the room, Sakura saw her friends sleeping in different places, and she smiled at the pairs. She looked back at Gaara.

"morning." He said. It seemed as though he said it less as a greeting and more like a 'wow…it's morning…woop-dee-doo' kind of statement. Sakura smiled at him. "morning." She whispered. She leaned up and gave him a kiss on the lips, then rested her head on his chest again. She sighed. It was still early, and she was still tired.

"Sakura?" Gaara asked.

"Yeah?"

"When are your parents going to get home?"

Sakura gasped and pulled out of his arms. She stood up and started looking around the room for something. Gaara pulled himself into a sitting position. Sakura quietly stepped over things while continuing to search for her…something.

"What are you looking for?" Gaara asked a little loudly. Sakura 'shh-ed' him and pointed to their still sleeping friends. He rolled his eyes. She came a little closer and whispered, "I'm looking for my phone. Honestly I don't know when they'll be home, but if there's any way of finding out, it's that phone. They may have left me a message." He nodded and she turned back around. Gaara's eyes widened and he smirked evilly.

Sakura suddenly felt Gaara right behind her. His hands were at her back, but they slid down to rest on her—ahem—backside. She gasped as goosebumps dotted her body. "Gaara!" she hissed and turned around, only to find him smirking madly and holding her cell phone in front of her face.

"It was in your back pocket." He stated plainly. Blushing, Sakura glared at him and snatched the phone away. She mumbled something about 'pervert' and 'back pocket' and sat down on the couch. She flipped her phone open to see _one missed call _displayed on the small screen. She called her voicemail and listened to the message.

_Hello Sakura, it's mom. We're working today, so we'll see you about (pause) well I'll be home around seven, and your father will home around maybe nine. I'm hoping to cook dinner tonight! So we can all eat as a family. Honey, I'm really sorry, but you know neither of us, your father or me, can miss work. It's fine with me if you'd like to invite some friends over (pause) ok never mind, your father doesn't want anyone at the house, but if you want to go shopping or whatever with your friends that's fine. (pause) your father says no boys. Ok then, we love you, and have fun, and we'll see you tonight. Bye!_

Sakura flipped her phone closed and rolled her eyes. "Sorry dad," she muttered. "Too late. Everyone's crashed in the living room." She was talking to herself, and Gaara looked at her questioningly. She looked at him. "Oh, they won't be home until way later, so no worries." She looked around the room. "But we do need to clean this mess." She stood up and walked over to the other couch, only to be stopped by Gaara's hand holding hers.

"Sakura, you look nice," he said sexily (A/N o.O) into her ear. Sakura suddenly realized she was still wearing her clothes from last night. She blushed and he pulled her into a hug from behind. "Really nice." She gasped as he lightly kissed her ear and it made her shudder.

Gaara smirked and at her reaction and rested his head on her shoulder. "Sakura?" he asked in a husky whisper.

"y-yes?" she asked in a cracked voice. She coughed and tried to regain her bearings. Still in shock from the ear kiss, she coughed lightly again and asked a little clearer, "yes?"

He smirked. "Are you my girlfriend now?" Sakura was silent for a moment and he lifted his head in concern. She finally spoke.

"Do you want me to be?" She asked. He rolled his eyes and sighed as if that was the most obvious thing in the world.

"Duh."

Sakura blushed. She had never had a guy ask her to be his girlfriend before. She giggled. "ok." He smirked. "But," He froze. But what? "But do we have to tell them just yet? I'd be so embarrassed by the girls. They'd never stop teasing me." She looked at him a little afraid. "I mean, if you want to tell them. I'm just saying…I mean…I don't know what I'm saying…I just don't want them to—"

He silenced her with a kiss. "It's fine." He said. "I don't want to tell them yet either." She smiled and leaned against him.

"The guys would mock you huh?" she asked with more than a hint of amusement. Gaara glared and it made her giggle. She leaned up and gave him a peck on the cheek, which he happily turned into a passionate mini-make out session. Sakura reluctantly made him stop when she motioned that she couldn't breathe. Only after he watched Sakura pant a little did he realize the he hadn't been able to breathe either. He coughed lightly, and Sakura gave him a hug, not trusting him (or herself) to kiss him again.

Gaara inwardly pouted once Sakura released her hug and turned back around. Damn! He wanted to kiss her again! Sakura walked quietly over to where Neji and Ten Ten were sleeping, but Gaara made a sound and she turned around again. Gaara looked over at Hinata and Naruto, and Sakura immediately understood. It wouldn't be very good if Neji woke up to see Naruto sleeping with his cousin. There might be death involved. Sakura turned and instead walked over to where the said were sound asleep. She pondered. _Should I wake up Naruto first? Or Hinata? _After thinking about it, she decided to wake up Hinata first. The girl's embarrassment would be easier to handle, rather than Naruto jumping up and knocking Hinata to the floor (which would most likely happen). Sakura gently shook Hinata's shoulder. A pair of pearl-like eyes fluttered open.

"Wha…mmm…huh?" Hinata mumbled, trying to gather her bearings. "Good morning!" Sakura whispered cheerfully. Hinata could only blink at her. She turned to look behind her and nearly fainted. I mean, who wouldn't turn bright red and nearly faint to see a slightly snoring Naruto drooling onto the couch and mumbling something about ramen in his sleep? Oh yes, very macho. She then tumbled to the ground, almost kicking Kiba in the head. _She didn't even need Naruto to knock her down, _Sakura thought. She rolled her eyes and helped the shaking girl to her feet. "I-I…s-slept…N-Nar-ruto…" Hinata was having trouble speaking, so Sakura shut her up. "Don't worry, nothing happened. Look, everyone did it."

Hinata's gaze swept around the room, lingering on Neji and Ten Ten and Shikamaru and Temari. "Oh," Hinata said dumbly. Sakura laughed lightly and moved over to Naruto. He was surprisingly harder to rouse than she had thought before. She tried shaking him, but it didn't work. Becoming frustrated, Sakura looked over to Gaara.

"Could you wake the others, please?" she asked him. He arched an 'eyebrow' and looked around the room. Kiba was lying in front of him. Gaara kicked him in the side.

Kiba grunted and sat up, holding his side. "What the hell?!" he demanded angrily. Gaara only shrugged and said, "get up." Sakura was still having trouble waking Naruto up, and Hinata touched her arm. "Let me try," she said shyly. Sakura nodded and Hinata bent down to whisper something in Naruto's ear. He shot up like a rocket and yelled, "RAMEN? WHERE?"

Sakura laughed out loud and smiled to Hinata, who returned the gesture and went to wake up Shikamaru and Temari. Kiba, who had gotten over his stomach ache surprisingly quickly, was continuously poking Kankuro in the forehead, but to no avail. The sandy-haired boy only continued to snore.

Hinata gently shook Temari's shoulder. She mumbled something that sounded like "Shi-ka-ma-ru" and nuzzled her head closer to the boy she was holding. Shikamaru cracked one eye open at hearing his name, but didn't move. Hinata smiled at the two. "Time to get up you guys." She said. Shikamaru only grunted.

"It's too troublesome to get up right now." He said, not moving at all. Gaara suddenly appeared out of no where and glared at Shikamaru and his sister. Kiba was still poking Kankuro's forehead, and apparently having a good time too, because he burst out laughing. This woke Kankuro up, and he tumbled out of his chair and onto the floor. He sat up and looked around the room. Everyone's attention was momentarily drawn to him (A/N except Neji and Ten Ten . they're still asleep). Kankuro's gaze, however, was on Shikamaru and Temari, and he stood up to assist Gaara in his death glaring. Shikamaru grinned sheepishly at the two angry men in front of him. "If you want to live to see the light of day again, I suggest you get up…now." Sakura said to Shikamaru, eyeing the two angry brothers.

Shikamaru (for once in his life) looked worried, so he removed his arm from around Temari's shoulder. She mumbled again and sleepily opened her eyes. "Hi Shika-baby." she said quietly, still not aware that practically everyone was watching them. Shikamaru turned pink.

"What?!" Naruto nearly yelled. Gaara and Kankuro's eyes were twitching. Kiba pushed his way through the small crowd and stared in disbelief at the now very confused Temari and the still pink Shikamaru. "Shika…baby?" he asked. Temari turned red and hid her face in Shikamaru's shirt. Sakura suddenly felt bad for the two in the chair.

"Come on you guys, we still have to wake up Neji and Ten Ten." Sakura said. They all looked at each other, than back to Shikamaru ad Temari. Gaara and Kankuro stopped glaring, and everyone turned around to give the embarrassed couple a little peace.

Amazingly, despite Naruto's outbursts and the fact that no one was whispering, Neji and Ten Ten were still asleep. "Aww! They're so cute together!" Sakura exclaimed…quietly. Hinata giggled and nodded. The guys just kinda looked at the pair.

Temari, who kinda made her way to the middle of the crowd, grinned evilly. "Let's get their picture for blackmail!"

Kiba thought it was a great idea, and mimicked Temari's evil grin. "Wait, I have a camera." He took out his cell phone and held it up. They heard a click. "Got it."

Yeah ok, Sakura is a nice girl; considerate of others, smart, pretty, the whole she-bang. Yet, buried deep down below all the cuddly pink cuteness of her heart, there lies a dark evil.

"I have a better idea for blackmail." Sakura stated. Her eyes were wide and she had a smirk that would've rivaled Gaara's. Hinata and Kiba backed away from her as her smirk grew.

"What is it?" Kankuro asked. "You'll see." She replied.

(A/N Time goes by-la dee da dee da-blah blah blah-yadda yadda yadda- zippidee do dah...ok!)

Sakura stepped away from her work with pride. The rest of the group could only stare at her. It was so simple…and yet…so brilliant. She had tied a string around the necks of both Neji and Ten Ten. If one or the other tried to get up, they would be, much to their surprise, brought back down to the face of the other, resulting in, dare I say it, a kiss! And if not a kiss, a very painful head-but. Either way, the group would get some laughs, and a blackmail picture.

"And now my friends, we wait." Sakura said smugly, crossing her arms. Kankuro arched an eyebrow at her. "Where'd you learn such a dirty trick?"

Sakura shrugged. "at my old school, two of the teachers were found napping on a couch together and so some students did this to them. It was _hilarious._ Not only were they quote-on-quote _kissing _in the picture, but their faces were priceless."

"I thought you said you went to a private school." Hinata said. She was little confused at to how such a thing could happen at a proper school.

"I did but…oh wait! Ten Ten moved!"

Everyone's attention snapped on the sleeping pair. It was true. Ten Ten was wiggling around, but seemed to be restrained my Neji's arm. She made a noise and wiggled some more. The movement was obviously bothering Neji. He was lifting his head a little…a little more...

BANG!

He felt the tug of the string. Ten Ten felt it too. They both opened their eyes.

The whole room was completely quiet. It seemed as though all Neji and Ten Ten could see was each other. The rest of the group was holding their breath, amazed that they hadn't been discovered. And then…

**BAM! BOOM! BANG! POW! COCK-A-DOODLE-DOO!**

Whatever interjection you feel like using right now, use it.

Three words.

**Neji kissed Ten Ten.**

Ok…here's the reaction from all their friends…

Sakura: O.O (faints on the floor anime style)

Gaara: o.o "…"

Temari: O.O

Shikamaru: -.- (it's too troublesome to care)

Kiba: O.O "…"

Kankuro: o.o

Hinata: -chibi face- "Yay!"

Naruto: XD (trying to hold back laughter)

Neji's eyes were closed, but Ten Ten's eyes were wide open in shock. Poor Ten Ten. She was going through what Sakura had gone through the day before. She couldn't breathe. Everyone watched as the helpless girl's face went from normal to red to blue.

It seemed as though Shikamaru was the only one who had any sense at the moment, so he took his phone out and took some blackmail pictures. All the girls were staring at the couple, gushing over how cute they were. Well, except for Sakura. Her eye was twitching that her plan hadn't worked, per se. They kissed, but her string plan was unneeded, so that took the humor away for her and she was understandably fuming. The guys…well…a few were blushing…Naruto was having a mental battle on whether or not to laugh out loud…Gaara was just staring…and well, it seems Kankuro and Kiba were with Naruto on this one. As said before, Shikamaru didn't seem to care, but he did put his arm around Temari's shoulder and smirked.

Finally, Neji pulled up, allowing Ten Ten to get some much needed air. She was gasping and staring at the man above her. Of course, all good things must come to an end. A very loud, unintentional snort was let out by none other than,

"Naruto!" Temari yelled. "Way to ruin the moment!" she whacked him on the head and Naruto started making gasping sounds between laughing and crying.

Neji and Ten Ten's faces snapped to face the small audience. Ten Ten went bright red and she hid her face. Neji's face, however, drained of all color. For the first and only time in his life, Neji started stuttering like his cousin.

"W-wha…y-you…uhh…" poor Neji couldn't even manage a simple sentence. He resulted to blinking continuously.

Hinata, Sakura, and Temari were smiling brightly, while some of the guys were giving him thumbs up.

"What the hell?" the voice of Ten Ten asked. They all looked at her, to see her pulling at the string around her neck. Sakura squeaked, "oh shit!" and hid behind Gaara.

Well, it was delayed, but Sakura's plan did work after all. Neji pulled his head up rather quickly, only to have it pulled back down to bump foreheads with Ten Ten. His eyes narrowed, but Ten Ten spoke first. "What is this?" she asked angrily. "Which one of you jerks put this around our necks?"

For a happy moment, Sakura thought she would be defended by her friends. Her wonderful, loving, caring friends (plus boyfriend). They would stick up for her. They wouldn't leave her alone to face the wrath of Ten Ten and Neji. She would be safe.

"Sakura did it!" blurted out Naruto. Sakura's eye twitched and she whacked him on the head extra hard. "Ow, ow, ow, ow, ow, ow, ow!" Naruto cried, holding his head which now had two sore spots. Sakura resumed her hiding place behind Gaara.

Ten Ten and Neji were completely motionless for a moment, until Ten Ten turned to Kiba and asked sweetly, "Could you hand me a pair of scissors, please?"

Kiba looked scared. "We know it was a mean trick Ten Ten, but killing Sakura with scissors isn't the answer."

Her eyes narrowed. "IT'S TO CUT THE STRING, YOU IDIOT!" she yelled. Even Neji looked scared. No one dared to approach Ten Ten, so instead Neji felt for the knot and simply untied the string. The pair sat up and rubbed their necks. "Thank you Neji." Ten Ten said calmly.

Neji looked confused for a second but then he answered, "You're welcome." They stood up and looked for Sakura, only to find her cowering behind Gaara. "Sakura?" Neji asked, looking at her with his cold white eyes.

"Yes?" she whimpered.

"You have ten seconds."

"What?"

"Nine."

"I don't under—"

"Eight."

"Oh! You want me to run."

"Seven."

"Shit!" Sakura tore off in the other direction. Neji and Ten Ten glanced at each other then finished quickly in unison, "six-five-four-three-two-one!"

They ran after Sakura in the same direction. It wasn't long before the three were running in circles outside Sakura's house. Surprisingly, Sakura was a very fast runner. However, Ten Ten was active in sports, so she wouldn't run out of breath as quickly, and Neji…well he's Neji. Both he and Ten Ten were running about the same speed, only steps behind Sakura. The others couldn't tell, but Gaara was just a tad worried. What would they do if they did catch her? As her boyfriend, shouldn't he do something protective?

But, no one else knew. He was supposed to lay low, right? And that's where the cycle of uneasiness repeated itself. He could only watch as Neji and Ten Ten chased his Sakura up a tree, which didn't do her much good, because Ten Ten hopped up and pulled herself into the tree to continue the chase(which by the way is a very big feat, considering she's still wearing her miniskirt). Neji stayed on the ground, supposedly to get Sakura if she jumped out of the tree…or maybe he just couldn't climb up like Ten Ten. I guess we'll never know.

The remaining people that were inside just watched the girl being chased by her angry friends. Ten Ten made to grab Sakura's arm, but she moved it, almost knocking herself out of the tree. Instead she swung backwards with a yelp, making Gaara shuffle his feet. He had faith that Sakura was a strong girl and was capable of taking care of herself, but he still felt somewhat…scared? Gaara was never scared. _Oh well… _he thought.

Sakura pulled herself back up and stood up carefully. With a mighty leap, she flung herself at the next tree over (which was a big tree, by the way). Amazingly enough, she was actually able to catch a tree branch and hang on for dear life. Neji ran over under her and Ten Ten didn't seem to trust herself on flying to the tree like Sakura had done. She climbed down and joined Neji underneath Sakura.

It was actually kinda funny in its entirety. Sakura and Ten Ten looked as if they had gone clubbing and Neji had bead hair (A/N lmao). Sakura was clinging on to her tree branch and Ten Ten and Neji were shouting at her from below. Temari glared at Naruto and whacked him on the head a third time. "You really are an idiot." She said. By now, the pain in Naruto's head was already overwhelming so he didn't even feel her hit him.

"It was an accident!" Naruto whined. Kankuro sighed. "I guess we should save her, right?"

"Yeah, that'd probably be the right thing to do. Ten Ten seems murderous." Kiba agreed.

"But still, she had a good idea. It was pretty damn funny." Temari stated grinning. It was true; they had gotten what they wanted. "Anyway," she continued, "c'mon Hinata. If we're going to save Sakura, I'd rather change first." Hinata nodded, and the girls left the room, leaving Gaara, Kankuro, Naruto, Shikamaru, and Kiba.

"Why don't you go save her, Gaara?" Naruto grinned. Gaara almost said something in agreement. Key word: _almost. _Instead he remained silent.

"Shut up you dope!" Kiba hissed, whacking Naruto on the head for the fourth time that morning. Gaara wondered if the poor boy was going to develop brain damage. Oh wait! Naruto already has that. Never mind…

"What?" Naruto yelped, holding his throbbing head. "He likes her, doesn't he? Why shouldn't he save her?"

"You really are an idiot, Naruto." Shikamaru stated blankly. Through this whole conversation, Gaara remained silent. Suddenly, all the guys were in his face, with looks of concern. His eyes swept across the row of four guys and finally resolved to glaring.

"What?" he asked, a little annoyed.

Kankuro arched an eyebrow. "How are you doing?" he asked in a big-brotherly way.

"What?" _what are they all worried about? _Gaara wondered.

"I mean, with you and Sakura? How are you?" Kankuro tried again. Gaara blinked a few times.

"Err…"

Kiba shrugged. "It's ok, man. You don't have to tell us about it if you don't want to. We don't always get who we want." He continued on into a story, thinking it would help. "You remember when I had a crush on that girl….in like…sixth grade? And she poured milk on my head when I asked her out? Yeah. That made me feel like shit, but I'm better now. You'll get over it soon enough too."

"Uhh…"

"You think that'll make him feel any better? God, you're as stupid as Naruto." Groaned Shikamaru. At this both Kiba and Naruto shouted, "Hey!"

None of this was clicking in Gaara's head. _What the hell are they talking about? _He asked mentally.

Naruto shoved his blonde head a little closer. "Well, I know you'll probably hate me for asking this or whatever, but did she really reject your flower?"

Naruto's question slowly processed through Gaara's head. _Reject…my…flower? _He thought. "Uhh…"

Naruto gaze shifted a little towards the ground. "Sorry for asking." He said quietly, and the group backed away from the confused Gaara, who, on the other hand, was slowly beginning to understand what was happening. They thought Sakura had rejected him, because she hadn't come out last night with her flower. Well, maybe it was better if they thought that. He wouldn't know what to say if they knew the truth.

"What are you guys doing?" asked the voice of Temari, who was now wearing her clean paint clothes from yesterday. Hinata followed her into the room in her clothes from yesterday as well.

"Ah, nothing." Kiba shrugged. "Shall we commence with our rescue mission then?" he asked. They all nodded and wandered out the door.

Sakura was still clinging to her tree, but had since climbed somewhat higher. Unfortunately for her though, her leap of faith had been the only way to reach the big tree she was now in, for the lowest branch was much higher off the ground than the tree they had been in before. Neither Ten Ten nor Neji could get into it.

"I'm really, really sorry! Please don't hurt me!" Sakura called down, while hugging the tree trunk.

"That was a really low thing to do Sakura!" Ten Ten called back. Neji nodded in agreement.

"Just cool it you guys." Gaara muttered. Kankuro nodded. "You guys kissed on your own, remember? The only thing Sakura's string did was make you bump heads."

Both Neji and Ten Ten blushed. This thought hadn't occurred to Sakura, and when she thought about it, it was true. "Hey they're right! My string didn't do anything bad! Why are you intent on murdering me?"

"Because they don't want to admit that they kissed on their own." Kiba called, answering Sakura's question. Neji and Ten Ten glared at Kiba, but Temari cut in. "Gaara's right. Just calm down. You don't have to get all angry. Besides, you've got Sakura pretty much cornered. She has no way of getting down."

Ten Ten and Neji looked up at Sakura, and Sakura looked at her own state. It was true. She was trapped. "shit." She muttered.

"Are you sure you can't get down safely Sakura?" Hinata asked, a little worried. Sakura looked around. She didn't want to admit it but…from this height…

"Uhh…" Sakura wondered aloud. "Crap…uhh…DAMN YOU TEN TEN!" Ten Ten crossed her arms. "Sorry, but it's not my fault anyway." Sakura groaned.

Naruto wandered into the conversation. "Ok, either Sakura can jump and someone catch her, or we get the best tree climber to go help her down…or we can call someone to get a ladder."

"Why don't we try the stupidest one first?" Shikamaru asked rolling his eyes. "This is going to be such a drag."

"Shut up Shikamaru!" Temari snapped. She was really worried about her friend.

"C'mon you guys don't fight. You don't want to anger your Shika-baby do you Temari?" Kankuro asked jokingly. Neji and Ten Ten (who hadn't been awake for that particular incident) looked at Temari and Shikamaru in utter shock. Temari gave Kankuro a rather sharp punch to the arm. "I hope that bruises," she growled. "Just so I can hit it again."

Kankuro groaned in pain and created some distance between him and his fuming sister. Gaara sighed. They would never get anything done if everyone started fighting.

"Would you all just shut up?" he commanded a little more than asked. The group looked at their unpronounced 'leader'. Gaara shoved his hands in his pockets and stalked over to the smaller tree. They glanced at each other but then followed him. He looked the tree over, and found a branch that was pretty low to the ground. By now he was an expert at pulling himself into trees, so he did so, and easily made his way through the branches until he found the spot where the two trees were closest.

"It would seem you got in deep this time, eh Sakura?" he called mockingly. She maneuvered through the branches of her own tree until she was in front of him.

"Oh yes. Very funny, Gaara. Hilarious in fact. You're such a kidder." Sakura retorted sarcastically. The others followed along with the plan and drifted underneath Sakura in case she fell.

Gaara rolled his eyes and reached out an arm. "Can you reach me?" he asked. Sakura wandered a little further on her branch. It was a steady branch, but she had nothing to hold onto above her head. She lifted her right hand from its spot and reached out towards Gaara's hand. She was still too far away.

Sakura cast death glares down at Neji and Ten Ten. "Thanks a lot you guys!" she growled. Neji and Ten Ten returned her glare. "It's not our fault you decided to leap into a tree that you couldn't get down from!" Ten Ten argued.

"No, but it was you guys who chased me up a tree in the first place!" Sakura called back angrily.

"We wouldn't have had to chase you if you hadn't pulled that stupid string trick!" Neji stated.

"How many times do I have to tell you guys to shut it!?" Gaara snapped. He made a sound in between a gasp and a growl before moving out a little more on his branch.

Sakura followed example as best she could without losing balance. They reached out their hands again, but to avail. Sakura was still too far away. Gaara sighed. There wasn't a reasonable way to do this at all.

"Maybe you should jump again!" Naruto yelled to Sakura. She glanced at the space still distancing her from Gaara. It looked a lot further away than before. She sat up in her branch and crossed her arms. "God, this sucks." She muttered.

Actually, Sakura's annoyed state seemed to amuse Gaara. He smirked at her cute pout and sat down himself. He sighed, but then an idea came to him.

He stood up and stood out as far as he could on his branch. Sakura watched him but said nothing. Gaara observed his surroundings and climbed a little lower.

"Sakura," he called. "Jump to the branch and swing down."

Sakura stared at him as though he were insane. "Are you crazy? I'll fall!" she cried.

"I'll catch you."

Sakura looked over the situation uneasily. She saw how Gaara had figured everything out. If she was to successfully jump to the branch above him and swing forward, he would be able to easily catch her. However, if she missed the branch, it was a straight drop to the ground, and Sakura doubted her ability to create a good landing. She groaned.

"You can do it!" Kiba called up to her. The others joined in encouraging her. Gaara nodded to her with his mesmerizing eyes. If she could just focus on his eyes, she wouldn't be afraid…

Sakura took a deep breath and stood as far out as she could on her branch. _One step…two steps…three steps…_ Sakura counted in her head. Sakura wasn't afraid of heights. In fact, she rather enjoyed climbing trees and such; but this was new to her. One slip and it was a straight forward drop to the cold, hard ground.

The tree branch seemed to far away. So…far… Sakura held her breath and closed her eyes…

"It might be better if you keep your eyes open." Gaara stated plainly. Sakura blinked her eyes and muttered something like 'oh yeah'. This time she kept her eyes focused on the tree branch and counted to her self _ready…steady…go!_

She was flying, and she felt the tree in her hand, but her body kept going forward. Her hand slipped off the tree. She gasped as her foot twisted and she was staring at the ground. Oh god, she was going to fall. She was definitely going to fall. No doubt. She could feel it. The air started speeding past her again.

Err…wait…scratch all that. Sakura wasn't moving at all.

Something was holding her up. Sakura twisted around and hid her eyes into Gaara's shirt. Gaara let out a sigh of relief and made a mental note to next time get a ladder.

Poor Hinata. She had already fainted. Kiba, Naruto, and Kankuro were cheering. Ten Ten and Neji were looking on in worry, and Temari was trying to wake up Hinata. Shikamaru was…well…standing there.

Sakura was shaking. Gaara shifted his weight so that he had a little more balance. He sighed again. "Next time don't head for the tree. Go for the street instead." He muttered.

Sakura looked at him and arched an eyebrow. "Oh yeah Gaara. The street. Getting hit by a speeding car is much better than getting stuck in a tree."

Gaara blinked a few times in realization but then 'hmph'ed and loosened his grip a little around Sakura. The thought had occurred to him that they were still 'under cover'. He watched Sakura take a few deep breaths and then he started to climb down. Sakura followed, a little hesitantly. When she reached the bottom branch she had a little trouble summoning courage to jump down. They finally convinced her and she landed with a slight stumble. Ten Ten ran up and hugged her.

"Look, I'm sorry for getting you stuck in the tree." She said plainly. Sakura nodded and said. "I won't pull any more tricks on you." They hugged again and wandered back to the rest of the group. Temari was finally able to wake up Hinata and the joined in the conversation on the way back into the house.

"Hey Twenty! Next time you chase Sakura up a tree I advise you to change out of your miniskirt." Kankuro stated matter-of-factly. He didn't even look at her, but kept his eyes focused straight ahead. Ten Ten's eyes widened and she turned a dark shade of crimson. "What?!" she demanded angrily. Kankuro shrugged. "I'm just saying. Why do you think Neji stayed on the ground?"

This time Kankuro had to duck for a punch from Neji. Ten Ten didn't even have a comeback for that one, and could only watch as Neji tried again and again to land a blow on Kankuro.

"He was just kidding, Ten Ten." Temari put in. Nevertheless, Ten Ten ran inside and they didn't see her again until she had chained into some pants.

Sakura was still a little shaky, so the group helped her inside. She sighed and said sarcastically, "well that was fun." They all looked at her in confusion, so she added, "_But_ we need to get this place cleaned up."

Kiba took one glance at the room and made a dash for it. Temari caught him by the collar. "No way are you getting out of this one dog-boy. You made most of this mess anyway, with all the cookie crumbs."

Kiba whined like a dog and let his shoulders drop in a pout. Shikamaru shrugged. "But you girls are always telling us about how we can't clean."

Ten Ten rolled her eyes. "That's no excuse. Besides, we're here to direct you." Shikamaru glanced mournfully at the rest of the guys and said, "I tried."

As agreed, the girls led the march in cleaning. The guys helped pick up all the bowls from popcorn and so forth. Hinata cleaned the dishes (Naruto would've helped her, but they didn't trust him around breakable objects). Shikamaru and Temari went upstairs to clean up and throw away the empty paint cans. Ten Ten and Kiba cleaned up the kitchen from the cookies. Kankuro, Gaara, and Sakura went around to the other rooms and put the final touches on making them look descent again (Gaara and Kankuro had to make sure Sakura didn't find any of the cameras of microphones). After about an hour so of cleaning, the group gathered back into the living room and crashed on the floor.

Naruto moaned. "I'm tired!" Hinata sighed and added, "me too." Kiba nodded. "ditto." Sakura looked at all her friends. "Thanks you guys! I had a great time, but we all need some sleep, I think." Temari smiled and nodded. "Alright, if we don't see you tomorrow, we'll see ya Monday."

They stood up and started walking back to door. Hinata left with Neji, and Temari and Kankuro left together. Shikamaru walked out after a quick wave. Ten Ten left, and then Kiba. Naruto kind of stood there until Gaara glared at him and he jumped off towards his car. Sakura turned to Gaara.

"I guess it's just me and you again, huh?" she asked with a smile. Gaara's expression softened and he smirked. "Yeh."

Sakura leaned up to kiss him, but he turned away. "They're watching." He muttered. Sakura murmured a soft, "oh." She hugged herself and looked at the ground. Gaara suddenly felt guilty, but he saw Naruto watching from behind his car. _The idiot thinks I can't see him, _he thought rolling his eyes.

"Well, bye." Sakura said, turning to go back inside her house. Gaara kept his eyes forward, but said, "I'll be back later." Sakura turned around to ask why, but he was already halfway down her drive way, so she just went inside.

---hey look! a division line! woot!---

Gaara pulled into his driveway and brought his bike to a halt. He really felt like shit for leaving Sakura like that, but what else could've he done? He sighed and pulled his helmet off. How could she affect him like this? It was a completely new feeling. He sighed again and walked inside his house. Making his way to the kitchen, he heard Temari on the phone. Kankuro wasn't anywhere to be seen.

Gaara opened the fridge and grabbed a soda. As he closed the door he _almost_ jumped in surprise. Kankuro had appeared out of **nowhere** and looked worried. "Gaara!" he whispered urgently, so Temari wouldn't hear, "we left the cameras!"

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------olly: uh oh! DRAMA! alrighty, i hope everyone liked it.

kiba: it was ok.

ten ten: i can't BELIEVE you put me in a miniskirt!

olly: yeah, sorry about that. R&R please!


	13. Chapter 13

Olly: hello again. sorry for the wait... this is more of a half chapter. sorry. and i know my chapter names are messed up. i'll try and fix that. ok, chapter 13 :-D

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disclaimer: dont own naruto

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(A/N, just so ya know, its still the day after the painting party) Sakura blinked her eyes open. It was now about six-thirty. She had crashed on the couch after taking a shower and changing her clothes. Something was ringing, and it was annoying the hell out of her. Only after a few seconds of blinking and yawning did she realize it was the doorbell.

"Kyah!!! I'm coming!" she called, stopping in front of her hallway mirror to smooth out her appearance. The bell rang again, making her yelp and rush to the door. She opened it but had to shield her eyes from the evening sun light. "Sorry, I was aslee—"

In a split second, her lips were captured into a kiss, and Sakura still couldn't see who it was. Her first reaction was to yelp and push the intruder away. The person stumbled backward.

"What the hell is wrong with you!?" she demanded.

"What?"

-pause-

"Gaara!"

"Yeah…"

"Omg, I thought you were the postman or something!"

Gaara arched an eyebrow at his girlfriend (A/N: yes, that's what I'm going to refer to them now). She was wearing loose black pants that waved back and forth around her ankles. Her shirt was a short-sleeve zip-up hoodie. Sea-foam green eyes gazed at him apologetically.

He snorted and leaned back on his heels. Sakura's eyes widened and she pulled him inside by his shirt. Gaara was a little surprised, but didn't say anything. "No, no I'm really sorry!" she apologized. Gaara smirked. "I don't believe you." he teased.

"No I mean it! I'm sorry!" Sakura said in a voice that became steadily higher. Gaara crossed his arms and smirked. "Prove it." Sakura's eyebrows creased in confusion but then she pulled him downward to meet her lips in their deepest kiss yet. Gaara was a little shocked but gladly went along with it.

Oh yes, that was proof alright.

When she pulled away Gaara slightly pouted and Sakura shut the door. "Why'd you come back?" she asked in curiosity. Gaara arched an eyebrow as though that answer was already clear. Nevertheless, he gave in and told her. "Well, one: I felt bad about leaving you like that earlier. Two: you probably need help moving all the stuff back into your room. And three: you told me you wanted me to paint something on your wall." Unsaid was the fourth reason: Gaara needed to get those cameras and microphones out before Sakura and/or her parents found them. Otherwise, he and all the other guys would be in deep shit.

Sakura blinked and smiled. "Aww! You're so sweet!" she jumped up and hugged him around the neck. Gaara grunted in surprise. No one, I repeat, NO ONE had EVER referred to HIM as _sweet_ before. It completely caught him off guard. _Oh well, I guess I'll have to get used to it._

Gaara sighed and handed Sakura the bag he was carrying. "Take these up to your room." He commanded simply.

"What are they?"

"Supplies."

Sakura cocked her head like a confused puppy but shrugged it off and headed upstairs. She stopped when she noticed that he wasn't following her.

"Gaara?"

"Oh…um, I'll be up in a minute. I just have to use the bathroom." _Lame excuse, lame excuse, lame excuse, lame excuse, lame excuse!!!_

"Ok."

_YES! It worked!_

Sakura turned back around and finished her journey up the stairs while Gaara made a mad-dash around the bottom floor of the house, trying to remember where they had placed all the cameras and microphones. He was smart. He wore his pants with the millions of pockets, each big enough to hold one camera and/or mic.

He had just stashed the microphone from the bathroom into a pocket when Sakura walked past the doorway. "Oh hey!" she called with a smile. Gaara looked down at her. "Are you hungry? I could fix you something to eat while you paint…or draw…whichever."

Now that she had mentioned it, he was kind of hungry. He nodded and Sakura hopped off to the kitchen. "I'm going to start on your wall." Gaara called over his shoulder. "Ok! I put your bag next to the wall I want!" Sakura replied with the sounds of banging pots and pans emitting from the kitchen.

Gaara made his way up to her room. The bag was next to the wall the Gaara recognized as formally having the boxes in front of it. It was the opposite side of the room that her bed went. He sat down and stared at it.

_What to draw? What to draw? What to draw? What to draw?_

Gaara thought about when he had taken Sakura to the art shop. He tried hard to remember her favorite pictures. For a moment he contemplated drawing a life-sized version of the picture of him, her, and all their friends, but then he remembered that she already had the original to hang up on her wall. He thought about Sakura's character, hoping that it would inspire him. She was gentle and caring, but held a strong will with determination. She was beautiful…but could honestly care less about her appearance. That was definitely something he cherished about her. She was strong and weak and shouldered many responsibilities.

Gaara knew of one thing: he wanted to draw her something that she would remember forever. Something big…yet simple.

Damn that stupid wall.

It was so big. He also noted that it would be easier to draw something on it if it didn't have multicolored paint spatters all over it. Oh well. He pulled out a pencil and didn't think about what he was doing. His hand flowed this way and that. making it as tall as the ceiling was difficult, and required him to stand on his toes at some points. He crouched. he stretched and let his pencil move on its own until he had an outline.

It was actually surprising. He hadn't imagined it to turn out like that at first, but he liked it. It definitely fit in sakura's room. Now, what color to darken the outline with? Gaara shuffled through his paint box. To his dismay, he had no bright colors. _Crap._ All he seemed to have was different shades of black, grey, and red. Usually Gaara preferred not using paint, considering he was more of a sketch artist.

Shrugging, he poured a little of his brightest red onto a paper plate. Maybe if he was clever, he could somehow turn that red into a sort of purple-ish color to correspond with the colors splattered in the room. _A little black…ACK! TOO MUCH! TOO MUCH! More red!… phew…hmm, maybe this dark red…uhh…no, too dark…huh, I didn't know I had crimson. I'll add that…_

"Hey! How's it going?" called the bell-like ring of his girlfriend's voice. Gaara looked up to see her carrying a plate of food and wearing a smile. He put down his now messy, paint-covered paper plate and stood up to greet her in the doorway of the room, so she couldn't see the painting.

"It's not done yet," he replied.

Sakura shrugged. "Can I see it?"

Gaara looked at her unsurely. "Well…"

She smiled. "nah. I changed my mind. It would ruin the surprise!" Gaara rolled his eyes and sat down to eat. Sakura joined him on the floor and hugged her knees.

"You aren't eating?" Gaara asked, a little confused. Sakura shook her head. "No, but you go ahead and eat. My mom wanted to make dinner for the family tonight. If she actually follows through with it, I don't want to be like, 'oh sorry, mom. I already ate'. Don't worry. I have leftovers down stairs just incase."

Black-ringed eyes frowned at her disapprovingly, but Sakura decided to change the subject. "When are we going to tell them?" she asked, referring to their friends. Gaara shrugged and answered, "The dance."

Sakura took on the confused puppy face once again. "Dance?" Gaara nodded and started eating what seemed to be a kind of pasta. It was actually very good, and he took another, bigger bite. Sakura noticed his actions.

"You like it?" she asked, completely forgetting about the 'dance'. Gaara nodded and proved his point by taking yet another large bite. Sakura grinned brightly. "It's a recipe I picked up from one of my friends before I moved. They're called Baked Noonies. They're great aren't they? And they don't take very long to make either." She smiled proudly and Gaara couldn't help but smirk. It was then, when he was gazing upon her smile and beautiful features, that he realized that the gods had really smiled down upon him. He was discovering a new him hidden underneath all the hatred and coldness. She was unearthing kindness and happiness that he had never experienced before. He thought back to when they had first met, when she had argued with him after her fight with Ino. She had been brave enough to challenge his decision, and probably would've taken his slap if Kakashi hadn't walked in. he had hated her taunting laugh and happy attitude. she was his complete opposite, and yet he had found himself listening to her every word, giving her rides on his bike, gazing at her whenever she wasn't looking, protecting her from whoever dared to either touch her or insult her (save their friends). He could've refused to have her come over for the band practice. He could've refused to play their best song for her. He could've refused to play their stupid game. He could've refused kiss her.

And then what would've happened? Would they still be enemies? Probably. He certainly wouldn't have taken her to the art shop, or decide to help out with her party, or save her from a tree, or come back now to paint a special picture on her bedroom wall. Above all, he certainly wouldn't have a girlfriend.

"Gaara?"

Gaara's mind came back to reality when he noticed sakura looking at him in concern. "Are you ok? Is something wrong with the Noonies?"

Sakura gasped in surprise when Gaara leaned up and kissed her. "the Noonies are great." he reassured (A/N lol I don't know about y'all, but can you imagine Gaara saying Noonies? –snigger-). She blushed and mumbled, "Thanks," when he pulled away. The red-head chuckled and continued eating in silence while Sakura stared at her knees in confusion.

After he cleared off his plate, Gaara leaned back against the frame of the doorway and sighed. Sakura gazed at him with smiling eyes and collected his plate to take downstairs. She stood and waved to him before turning around to leave. Gaara was silent for a moment before he called after her. "Sakura!"

Sakura turned around and looked up at him from halfway down the stairs. "Yeah?"

He snorted. "I'm kinda having paint troubles. You don't have any paint that I could use."

His statement confused her for a moment. It took a few seconds before she realized that he was actually asking her if she did, in fact, have paints he could use. She smiled. "Of course I do. I have lots of paints for school projects and such. Hang on, I'll get them." Gaara nodded and went back to her room to wait. It wasn't long before she returned with a picnic basket.

"Are we going to have a picnic?" Gaara asked sarcastically. Sakura rolled her eyes. "Only if you like to eat paint." She retorted. She set the basket on the floor and opened it, revealing that it was filled to the brim with different bottles of acrylic paint. "Will this do?" she asked, pushing the basket a little towards him. He nodded.

Sakura smiled. "Alright. I'll go downstairs and clean up in the kitchen and you can finish." She stood and went back downstairs, leaving Gaara alone with a basket of paints. He began taking them out one-by-one, seeing which one would go best with the room and the sketch. There were at least three different shades of each color…and what seemed to be every color imaginable. There was blue, orange, red, purple, green, pink, yellow, black, brown, and grey. He sighed and gazed at the sketch. Somehow, Gaara had subconsciously chosen some sort of purple for the drawing. For some reason, a dark purple seemed to fit in the room more than any other color. He took two different purples, a black, and a red, and started mixing. He was proud of the outcome, because it was as close as it could get to the color he had imagined in his mind. After thinning the paint mixture just a little bit with water, he pulled out his favorite brush and dipped it in the concoction. Carefully following the pencil lines, he made the outline easier to see. Once it was clearly visible, it looked even better. If he became any prouder of his drawing than he already was, he'd get a big head.

With a bigger brush, he went back over the lines a second time so the lines would be even thicker and darker. He sat down to let it dry for a moment before he applied a third coat. As he expected, one color looked to bland, so he mixed up a slightly lighter version of the purple to brush on here and there. Just to create the effect of light and shadows.

Alright. He was finished. Now all he had to do was clean up and call sakura to come see it. sakura's paints were placed back in her basket and his brushes washed out. everything that was his was put back in his box and placed, along wth everything else, placed by the opposite wall. _Ok…moment of truth…_

"Sakura!" he yelled out the door. He heard the patter of her feet running across the wood floors and up the stairs. "Yes?" she called, reaching the top step. She turned the corner to her room and stopped in the doorway. Gaara shoved his hands in his pockets and looked at her. "I'm done."

Sakura's eyes widened. "Really? Wow!" Gaara shuffled over to stand behind her. He covered her eyes and led her forward until she was facing the wall.

Sakura couldn't see anything. She had butterflies in her stomach, partly because she and Gaara were so close, and partly because of her new wall. She felt Gaara's hot breath tickle her ear. "Ready?" he whispered. Her whole body shivered and she nodded. Gaara's hand slowly moved away from her eyes. She gasped.

It was a tree. A tree with branches reaching into her ceiling. The roots gathered just above her carpet. On the left side the branches swooped into a heart, as if the heart and the branches were one. The tree, branches and roots included, was just an outline, but the heart was completely filled in. it all looked so perfect. She absolutely loved it.

"Gaara," she whispered. "It's beautiful." Gaara fought back the urge to say, "I know."

She hugged him around the neck, and would've kissed him, had she been able to take her eyes off the wall. "Thank you!" she murmured into his neck. He smirked and held her in his arms. They stayed like that until sakura's phone rang, scaring the both of them. While sakura fumbled in her pocket, trying to get her phone out, Gaara realized something. Her ring tone sounded strangely familiar. Not strangely. _Very _familiar. He didn't have a chance to analyze the tune though, because sakura had already opened up the phone and was talking to someone on the other end.

"Oh yeah?" pause. "You are?" pause. "Yeah, sure, I will." Pause. "No…I didn't." pause. "Alright, alright." Pause. "uh-huh." Long pause. "Ok…right…I'll see you soon…love you too. Bye."

Gaara watched her put her cell away before his curiosity got the better of him. "Well?" he asked. Sakura looked at him before answering, "My mom will be here in about half an hour, and my dad got off early (surprised gasp) so he'll be here in about forty-five minutes…" she looked around her room. "Soooo…we need to get all my stuff back in here quick, and…" she stopped.

"And what?"

"And…my dad won't be happy if you're here."

"Well he'll have to get used to me right?"

"Yes…but don't you think they're going to have enough surprises already?"

He smirked. "Yeah. I have an idea. Let's go all out and say you're pregnant."

Her eyes widened. "Oh yeah…let's also throw in that you're a drug-dealer."

"And that we're all part of a gang."

"Ooh, good one. I could say I got a good paying job as a prostitute."

"And I'm a known murderer."

"Wow, we're pretty screwed up." Sakura giggled. He chuckled and hugged her. "Yeah pretty much." He replied. Sakura sighed and pulled away. Gaara followed her into the spare room to start the job of moving all her furniture back into her room. They were on a time limit, so once they had the big stuff in, Gaara left sakura to get the small items and he ran down to move his motorcycle out of the way. Just incase, he hid it a good twenty feet away behind a bush. Once it was successfully hidden, he hurried back inside and helped sakura get her room back in order. They fixed the bed and the dresser back to they way they had been before the party. Sakura decided not to but her blanket on the bed, since it didn't match her room anymore. She folded it up and put it in her closet. Gaara found his picture of their friends and sakura pinned it to the wall right above her bed, "so I can see it when I go to sleep," she said.

They had just put the finishing touches up when Gaara saw a car drive into the driveway. "Shit! That's my mom!" sakura hissed while looking out the window. She took his hand and led him downstairs and around a corner, just as they heard the door open. "Sakura? I'm home!" Footsteps were heard going into the living room. "Sakura?"

Sakura shoved him into a room and through another door. She locked it behind them. "Sakura?" Gaara whispered. "Why are we in a bathroom?"

Sakura turned around. "This is my parent's bathroom." Was all she said. They could hear the sound of sakura's mom calling her daughter's name. If they were quiet for much longer, Mrs. Haruno would surely worry. Sakura bit her lip and turned to Gaara.

"Close your eyes!"

"Why?"

"Just do it!"

Gaara obeyed, and he suddenly heard the sound of water running from a shower. _Oh no…she wouldn't! _After a minute or so, he heard sakura hiss threateningly, "alright, you can open your eyes, but if you say _anything_ you will SO regret it!"

Gaara didn't dare turn around. For once in his life…he was afraid. He didn't know what he would see…and he wasn't sure if he wanted to know. Scratch that…hell, he _wanted _to know, but was being held back either by modesty or fear of being pounded for staring.

He jumped like a cat being sprayed with water when there was a loud knocking on the door. The confused young man found himself being push behind the door and that's when he saw her. sakura was wearing only a towel, and her cheeks were burning red with embarrassment. Her hair was wet, and he guessed she had just stuck her head under the running water. It suddenly felt a little too hot for comfort in the small bathroom, and sakura couldn't even meet his eyes.

"sakura, are you in there? Open this door right now!"

Sakura unlocked and opened the door, making sure Gaara was hidden behind it.

"What, mom? I was trying to take a shower."

"Sakura! Your hair!"

"Oh you like it?"

"Wait a minute, why didn't you answer me? I've been calling your name for five minutes now!"

"Sorry, I guess I didn't hear you."

"I called you just half an hour ago!"

"I know. I haven't taken a shower in two days. I didn't want to be dirty when we ate a family meal together."

"Well why are you taking a shower in mine and your father's bathroom?"

"It was the closest bathroom at the time."

There was a long…terrible silence. Gaara was almost afraid to breathe. Finally sakura's mom spoke. "Well…alright. Finish your shower. Your father will be here soon. Do you need new clothes?"

"No…I have some. I'm sorry to have worried you."

"It's ok…just next time let me know, alright?"

"Ok, I promise."

Sakura closed the door and leaned forward, letting her forehead rest against the surface of the door. For a moment it seemed as though Gaara wasn't even there. He just stared at her…in all her beautiful, towel-clad glory. Of course…Gaara's not like that. in all actuality, his mind was buzzing with relief that sakura's mom hadn't discovered him, though now he wondered if it would've been better to just have introduced himself to her and explain why he was there.

Gaara sighed…which in turn seemed to remind sakura just exactly where she was. She yelped and faced him. Her face was redder than Gaara's hair…and Gaara was pretty sure he was blushing too. It was like they were both frozen. He had never expected to see sakura in a towel…at least…well let's not go there. Apparently sakura had never expected to be in a towel in front of a guy, especially Gaara.

Actually, sakura wasn't really naked under her towel. She had been wearing a camisole under her sort sleeve hoodie the whole time. When she had grabbed a towel, she had only taken off her sweatpants and hoodie, leaving the camisole and underwear. From there tucking the straps underneath the edge of the towel was easy. She really didn't have a reason to be as embarrassed as she was. Perhaps it was because she really did appear naked under the towel…and also, that's probably what Gaara thought.

Gaara…on the other hand…was mentally struggling with himself, but I'm not going to go into detail.

Now here's where the big question comes in. what do you do if you're a girl who looks naked under a towel and your boyfriend is staring at you. You've just escaped your mom, because your boyfriend's not even supposed to be there in the first place. Now that you're in the awkward situation that you are, WHO SPEAKS FIRST???

Apparently…neither.

However, even while in complete silence, they were able to communicate:

Gaara averted his eyes: _uhh…_

sakura turned away to gather her clothes: _don't say __**anything**_ Gaara closed his eyes while she pulled her shirt and pants back on: _why am I closing my eyes like a stupid kid?_

Sakura arched an eyebrow at him after pulled her hoodie on: _because if you don't, I'll pummel you._

Gaara opened his eyes after it was perceived safe to do so:_ no comment._

Sakura turned off the shower and opened the door to her parent's room. When she saw no one was there, she quickly went to shut and lock the door leading from their room into the hallway. Gaara followed her out into the bedroom before him, already guessing his means of escape: a window.

Water droplets were slung about as the wet-haired girl hurried to look out each window, seeing which one might be the best for him to escape from (A/N or maybe she was just trying to avoid looking at him o.0). Gaara, however, walked up to a random window and clicked the lock open. Sakura watched as he put one leg over the edge, but then stopped. Piercing emerald eyes looked at her, and she suddenly felt very embarrassed under his gaze. Without a word he walked up to her and one hand brought the crook of her neck towards him while the other slid down to the small of her back. A surprised squeak was caught in his kiss. It was different from their other kisses, as if he was holding back. They were so close that sakura was sure he could feel her heart beating in his own chest.

When Gaara pulled away he acted a little short of breath and didn't seem able to talk. He did grunt a small, "bye." into her ear before releasing her and slipping out the window. Sakura took a few deep breaths as she watched him disappear around the corner of the house. closing the window, sakura noticed she was shaking. A splash to her face with cold water was required before she could breathe normally. She sighed and went back to her mom to help her with dinner.

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Olly: phew, i hope that wasn't too short. R&R please!


	14. Chapter 14

Olly: I'm back!!!! i'm SO sorry to have kept everyone waiting for so long! i know i hate when authors delay their stories. i finally got my internet back, at least for a while, so i'll try and get as many chapters up as i can! thanks to all those people who favorited my story or put it on alert. i can't tell you how proud it made me feel. now, without further ado...CHAPTER 14!!

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Disclaimer: don't own naruto, but if i did i'd probably be filthy rich. can you believe all the naruto merchandise? i mean seriously!

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Gaara was able to make it into the trees before he doubled over with a cramp. He gasped and tried to calm himself down, realizing he shouldn't have kissed her. As soon as he had he saw her in that towel and he almost couldn't hold it in. He held his head in his hands and took deep breaths to stop his heart from beating so fast. After a while he was able to sit up straight again. The word 'pervert' flashed through his brain, but he tried to shake it out. _I'm not a pervert. I'm just seventeen years old._

Another car pulled into the driveway, making Gaara sigh with relief that'd he'd hidden his bike. Mr. Haruno stepped out and strode up to the house. Again, the thought of Sakura trying to explain her hair and new room to him made Gaara smirk. He waited a few minutes longer before running across the driveway and finding his bike. He rolled it a little ways down the street before he pulled his helmet on and drove home.

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"I'm home!" Mr. Haruno declared to the entire house itself. He could hear the voices of his wife and daughter emanating from the kitchen. He hung up his coat and placed his briefcase on the floor.

"Sakura, it's just so flashy."

"It's not flashy, mom."

"Yes it is! It's what, five different colors?"

"Look, I was just tired of the pink. Geez you're acting like I tattooed my face like Kankuro."

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Kankuro sneezed.

"How surprising, someone just insulted you again." Gaara announced deadpanned as he strode into Kankuro's room and started emptying his pockets of the cameras and microphones. The older brother grunted.

"Shaddup, Gaara. I'm not the one thinking dirty thoughts." He smirked at Gaara's confused expression. "Next time wear looser pants."

Gaara stared at his brother in shock before glancing down. He growled and ran out of the room, Kankuro's laughter taunting him all the way through the house.

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"But pink is such a beautiful color. That's why we named you Sakura, because your hair was like a cherry blossom." Mrs. Haruno continued.

"What's going on then?" Mr. Haruno asked as he walked into the kitchen. He stopped in his tracks when he saw Sakura turn around and display her multicolored hair to him.

"What in the world?!" he demanded. "Sakura! What did you do to your hair?"

"What? I like it."

"Well I don't! I want you to change it back tonight!" he walked over to look at it more closely. Sakura turned away. "I expect to come home and have a nice dinner with my family and here you have…this."

Sakura was hurt. "But my friends worked really hard on it. Besides, it'll wash out in a few months."

"Your friends?" he asked.

"Yes. Before you said I couldn't have people over I had already invited them. All of them. We painted my room and the girls spent the night and we dyed our hair and baked cookies and all types of fun stuff."

Mr. Haruno's eyes widened. "You mean to say you had a party while we were away? And you invited _boys_?" His face was red with anger.

"Dad, stop jumping to conclusions! I was tired of my room being white so I invited my friends over to help me paint it. Then we watched a movie and the guys left. Really the spend the night thing was a whole spur-of-the-moment decision. And it was only Temari, Ten Ten, and Hinata."

Ok…so that was a little bit of a lie…-cough cough-...ok, BIG lie...but there was no way in hell Sakura was going to tell her parents that the guys had taken them hostage then ended up spending the night as well. And she also couldn't say that Gaara had come back to finish her room and then saw her in a towel and then left. And since we're going through the list of things she couldn't tell her parents, let's also throw in that she couldn't tell them Gaara was secretly her boyfriend. Maybe her mom wouldn't mind but her father would take the moment of awkward silence to go buy a gun and find the directions to Gaara's house.

Well…back to the conversation…

Sakura's dad was fuming over the fact that his respectable, obedient daughter had done one of the things that parents hear horror stories of from other parents and then say prayers of thanks that their children wouldn't commit such crimes. She had thrown a party while they were away. Who knows what they did? For all the trust he had in Sakura right now, he thought it perfectly possible that she was lying through her teeth about what they did at the party.

Thank the heavens. It was sakura's mom who broke the tension. "You say you painted your room?" she asked. Sakura nodded. With a quick glance from parent to parent, Sakura was bid to follow her mom and dad upstairs to her room. Mr. Haruno burst through the door Mission Impossible style as though he were escaping from something that was exploding. Mrs. Haruno filed in behind him like a Charlie's Angel. Sakura rolled her eyes and simply walked in like it were her own bedroom (oh wait, it was!).

Sakura's parents stared at her room. Mrs. Haruno was the first to notice the tree. "Sakura, who did this?" she asked, gazing at the huge heart that occupied a fourth of the wall. Sakura smiled warmly and answered, "Gaara did."

Sakura's dad looked at her. "Gaara?" Sakura nodded. "Yeah. He's an amazing artist." She pointed to the picture above her bed while her father stepped up to take a closer look at it.

"Don't you like it?" Sakura asked. "It was so fun. We all wore dirty clothes and went crazy with the paint. We had a huge paint fight. It was awesome."

"You did all this while we were away?" Mrs. Haruno asked.

Sakura didn't really like lying to her parents. "Well yeah. Like I said we watched a movie afterwards and then the guys left and the girls spent the night."

Mrs. Haruno looked at the ground sadly. "I'm very disappointed in you, Sakura. Do you really wish so much that we weren't part of your life?"

Sakura was taken aback. How had her mom reached that conclusion? "Mom I never said that! How can you think I don't want you in my life when I actually wish that you were in my life more!?"

"Sakura, you took the advantage of our long work hours to throw a party while we weren't here. You painted your room without our permission. You dyed your hair without our permission, in colors we disapprove of as well. You had people come over, including boys, without our permission. You even had people spend the night without our permission. Sakura, before we moved here you were a wonderful child."

Sakura couldn't believe what her parents were saying. Just because she had her friends over to paint her room and dye her hair, they thought she had become a child to be looked down upon? "What are you saying?" she asked hesitantly.

Sakura's father put an arm around his wife's shoulder. "Your so called friends have changed you, Sakura." He said sadly.

"For the better!" Sakura argued. "Before I met them I wasn't really able to be myself."

"Sakura, you think it's for the better, but think about how society looks upon you. How you dress…and your hair…it all spells out trouble for you in future."

"Ah! You don't know anything! You're never even here!" Sakura screamed, holding her head.

"Sakura, don't you dare go into that! You know the only reason we work so hard is to take care of you!"

"I don't need to be taken care of!"

"Yes you do! Without us you wouldn't have clothes on your back, food on your table, or a house to live in!"

"Stop it!"

"Sakura, I think it would be for the best if you changed schools."

"What?! No! y-you can't! All I did was paint my room and dye my hair! Why are you making it such a big deal?"

"You went behind our backs!"

"Only because I knew if I asked you would say no! Honestly this is insane! You're insane!"

"Don't talk to us like that young lady!"

"Why are you so upset with it? It was a bonding experience. All my friends even signed their color to make it a memory. And it's not like I was the only one to dye my hair! We dyed Hinata's, Temari's, and Ten Ten's too! I haven't changed as a person. Please, why can't you understand that?"

Sakura's father only stared at his daughter. After a moment of looking into Sakura's pleading eyes, he walked out of her room and down the hallway to his own. Sakura's mom took her daughter's hand while the owner's eyes filled with tears. "Do you really feel like that, mom? I never really had friends before now. Please…please don't make me change schools. I'm sorry. I'll repaint my room, a-and dye my hair back and everything. I promise."

Sakura looked at her mother. She looked so sad. She never meant to make her mom look like that. After a minute or two, Mrs. Haruno heaved a large sigh and hugged Sakura. "No. I don't think you should change schools. You do seem to have lovely friends, and I would like to meet them. I'm sorry for what I said before, but you're father does have a point. Society doesn't usually look upon people like your friends in a good way, even if they are nice when you get to know them. And you're room looks great, and I'm happy that you've become bolder in your life."

Sakura blinked…once…twice…three times. Doest thou ears deceive her? Only a few minutes ago her mother had told her she was disappointed in her. "Mom?"

Mrs. Haruno hugged Sakura. "You'll have to excuse your father. Sakura, would you like to hear a story?" Sakura couldn't tell what her mom was up to, but she hadn't told her a story since she was four. Sakura nodded and sat down on her bed to listen.

"My parents," her mom began while taking the seat next to sakura, "were like your father and I are now. We moved a lot. We settled down once in a town near here…well not very near, but a couple of hours away at most. When I went to the school here on eighth grade, I felt so dumb because I knew nothing about public school life. It's when I meant Kurenai. She was my first friend. Her boyfriend was Asuma. The other girl in the group was Rin, whose crush was Kakashi, whose rival and best friend was Obito. Somehow Iruka fit in there as well, and we all became good friends, except for the one guy I couldn't get the attention of. He was my idol. The hippest cat on the block (Sakura smirked at her mom's funny choice of words). He had a motorcycle, and cool hair, and oh! He once 'rescued' me from a date with a kid named Gai. Do you know who that man was?"

Sakura looked at her mom questioningly. "Oh god mom, if you say it was dad…"

Mrs. Haruno laughed. At that moment Sakura realized she hadn't really heard her mom laugh before. It was a hearty laugh, a jingling chuckle like rice falling on tin. It seemed as though it didn't get exposed very often. "Yes Sakura," she continued with a smile, "whether you choose to believe it or not, your father was once a very groovy person. It took me practically all of my high school years to ask him out, and when I finally did, I found out that he had been hiding his feelings for me the whole time as well. It was a mixed up mumbo-jumbo of emotions and awkwardness…but all that became memories. Now Rin and Obito are dead…I heard everyone else became teachers and moved away. With all his friends gone, your father broke. He came to me one day and said he had an awakening. Being cool and scary wasn't going to get him anywhere in life, so he sold his bike, changed his hair, went back to school, and got a job working for a small lawyers office; the whole she-bang. I was afraid he would leave me if I didn't follow suit, so I did the same. Changed my wardrobe, put up the eyeliner, and burned all the lyrics I wrote for songs. Eventually we both ended up with good jobs and he asked me to marry him. When we had you he was determined to give you a better life than he had growing up. I thought it was the right thing to do…but perhaps I was wrong?"

Sakura smiled and gave her mom the best hug she could manage. "Thanks mom. I'm sorry for all the stuff I did. Next time I'll ask permission before doing something like that, ok?"

"Of course, and if you like, I'll try and talk to your father for you." Sakura's mom smiled at her daughter and gazed at the wall that Gaara had painted. "You know, that really is a wonderful piece of art. Who did you say drew it?"

Sakura couldn't help but blush. "Gaara did it." Mrs. Haruno cocked her eyebrow. _Stupid flushed cheeks!_

"So you like him, huh?" she asked. Sakura sighed in defeat.

"Yeah…" Maybe now was the time to come clean? "Actually…mom," Maybe? "He's kind of…" Possibly? "Well…he's kinda my boyfriend."

"Oh? Well I'll have to meet him sometime."

Wait…that was it? Sakura nearly collapsed from shock. All this hiding and being secretive…and all her mom said about her daughter's first boyfriend was '_oh, well I'll have to meet him sometime'._

"You're not going to interrogate me?"

"No. I figured you wouldn't want me to anyway. Besides, if I don't cool down your father quick he might actually try to switch schools."

"Alright. Thanks mom. Sorry I ruined dinner."

"It's fine, Sakura. We'll try to do that tomorrow. Good night." Sakura's mom stood up to leave the room, but not before kissing her daughter's forehead. Sakura piped up as he mom was just about to exit. "Hey mom! The Kakashi guy you knew, was it Hatake Kakashi?"

"The same. You know him?"

"He's my English teacher. And if we're talking about the same Gai-sensei, he's my gym teacher."

"Really? That's amazing. I'll have to tell your father. I'm sure he'll be so happy to know about his old friends."

Sakura smiled as her mom disappeared into the hallway and closed the door behind her. She thought about everything her mom had told her. It all sounded so much like her own life now. She wondered if she would end up like her mom and dad as well. Once again she sighed and then changed into some pajamas to go to bed.

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-sighs- wow, again i'm sorry about the delay. R&R please!


	15. Chapter 15

AHH! Sorry guys! i know, i know, i keep telling you that i'm going to upload more chapters and then i don't. please don't hate me. a lot of stuff happens in this chapter, so i hope you won't be disappointed. the plot in this story is just starting to heat up, and i hope everone likes where it's going. thanks to all my readers! R&R please!

--Olly Baabaa-chan

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Disclaimer: Don't own naruto

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Gaara looked up from the sketch he was drawing and looked at the clock. 6:27. Time to get ready for school. He put away his drawing book and went to take a shower. When he got out and wiped the mirror clean it was clear he hadn't shaved in two days, and stubble was emerging. With a sigh he took care of the annoying addition to his morning routine and went to get dressed. After some sifting through the stuff on his floor Gaara found and pulled on some baggy black pants and a grey shirt with a red skull on it. It was a short jog downstairs to grab some breakfast. As usual, he was the only one up and awake. How surprising. With an orange and a bottle of grape juice in hand he walked outside and mounted his bike.

By now the route to Sakura's house was very much memorized and his arrival time had gotten quicker. This time he got there at 6:53. Heck yes!...But now what was he going to do for a whole seven minutes? He shrugged and started eating his orange. half of the fruit was gone by the time Sakura skipped out to meet him. He smirked when she got closer.

"Aww…no towel? And I was so looking forward to it." He made a fake pout face at his girlfriend, who in turn's cheeks grew red from embarrassment. She hit his arm. "That's not funny Gaara! And anyway, it'll be a _long_ while before you see me in a towel again."

This time it was Gaara's turn to blush, but only slightly. "Fine whatever. Lets go." She giggled and climbed on behind him.

They pulled into the school lot and parked. Sakura led the way to the tree, while Gaara followed behind with his hands shoved in his pockets. As always, Gaara pulled himself into his favorite branch. Sakura did as before, pulling herself into the branch next to his.

…silence…

"I told my mom."

-blink- -blink- -blink- "…huh?"

"I told my mom…you know, about us."

"oh…"

"Oh? That's it?"

"That's what?"

"That's your only reaction?"

"Ok, sorry. What happened?"

"She wants to meet you."

"I see…"

"You're not being very loquacious today. What's wrong?" Sakura peeked her head up to look at Gaara. He only looked straight ahead. "Nothing's wrong."

"Liar. Are you angry that I told her?"

"No."

"Gaara!"

"What?"

"Please tell me!"

He rolled his eyes. Sakura leaned up and kissed him on the cheek. "Are you feeling sick?" she asked. He smirked. "Not anymore."

Sakura didn't have time to be confused because Gaara pulled her into another, deeper kiss.

"That's was it? You were pouting because I didn't kiss you?" Sakura said when he pulled away.

Gaara crossed his arms defiantly. "I wasn't pouting." He argued.

Sakura smiled. "Idiot. I don't always have to be the one to kiss you first!" he shrugged and leaned his head back and closed his eyes.

"So your mom wants to meet me."

"Yup."

"Do I have to talk weird for her too?"

"I doubt it."

"What about your dad?"

"Dunno."

"Oh, so now who's not being loquacious? You little hypocrite."

Sakura giggled and playfully shoved him. The rest of the time they were together alone that morning was spent in silence. After a while their friends started showing up, one by one. They talked about Sakura's party and Sakura explained what happened when her parents found out. Soon the bell rang.

Sakura took her rightful place walking in between Gaara and Naruto. It had been designated her 'spot' when they walked in a line. Before Sakura came the line had gone: Kankuro, Temari, Shikamaru, Kiba (with Akamaru in tow in his jacket), Gaara, Naruto, Hinata, Neji, and then Ten Ten. Gaara, of course, was in the middle because he was pretty much the leader of all of them. However with her addition they were no longer an odd number of friends. Nowadays, it looked as though Gaara _and_ Sakura were the 'leaders'. No one really seemed to notice though…ok, well, the other people around them noticed but psh! Who cared about them anyway?

Ever since Sakura had changed her wardrobe after her first week of school, people had stared at her, and she had eventually gotten used to it. But now with of all of the girls' hair (especially Sakura's) they were getting more stares than usual. The guys had a difficult time glaring down all the guys looking at them. Gaara glared at absolutely everyone that even dared to glance at Sakura, and it made her swell with pride to have a boyfriend who cared enough to protect her. Temari was positively beaming over the fact that Shikamaru was putting off his laziness to protect her at all. Hinata blushed bright red whenever Naruto growled at someone because of her and even put his arm around her shoulder to show she was off limits (that is, until Neji glared at Naruto, who in turn recoiled his arm with a nervous smile). Poor Neji seemed to be having the hardest time because he was trying to defend two girls at once: his cousin and his crush. However, it showed that he was somewhat more concerned with Ten Ten, considering he switched places with her in the line so that she wasn't on the outside. Ten Ten smiled shyly in thanks. Kiba obviously felt left out, so he just settled with glaring straight ahead while Akamaru growled at everyone around them. Kankuro didn't seem to care at all…but did send a warning glance here and there every now and again.

It was just like in a movie: when the group looks all bad-ass and they're all walking in synch. Everyone on either side of them is cowering and staring in awe. The girls smirk triumphantly while the guys glare in a completely intimidating but cool way. The light from the doors leading outside behind them emanate a glow around their whole figure as a one. Every step is timed perfectly, and their bodies bob up and down in direct time with each other. It was all so cool.

…until Sakura tripped…

The whole group was thrown off beat and seemed to be completely lost without their tenth person. Gaara rolled his eyes and helped her up. She smiled a small apology to everyone. Temari and Kankuro parted ways as they always did. The rest of the group shrugged and went to class.

All through the day, Sakura had to deal with stares, but there were two stares that particularly bothered her: Ino's stare of pure hatred and Sasuke's stare of utter desire. At lunch she was afraid that Sasuke would interrupt them again…or perhaps Ino would come along to ruin their day, but neither came over. Sakura did notice, however, that at one point Ino looked straight at her and then pulled out her phone to call someone.

Sakura glared at her for a moment but then turned back to her lunch in silence. Of course, her friends noticed, and they weren't about to just let her get away without explaining.

"What's wrong, Sakura?" Ten Ten asked. Akamaru whimpered from inside Kiba's jacket. Sakura sighed and looked at her friends. "I don't know. Usually Ino just ignores me but today she's been like…stalking me. I don't know if you guys have noticed, but every time I turn around it's like she's staring at me. And also Sasuke has been looking at me more than usual. It's really creepy."

Gaara snarled at the mention of Sasuke. If anyone was going to look at his Sakura it was going to be him, and when he didn't let anyone else near her what gave Sasuke the idea that he could even glance in her direction?

"Don't worry Sakura! As long as we're around you don't have anything to worry about!" Naruto chimed. Shikamaru, Kiba, and Neji all nodded. Gaara growled under his breath and stared down at his food.

Suddenly a boy with black hair in a bowl cut and huge eyebrows jumped up in front of the group. "Hi Neji! Hi Ten Ten!" he practically sang. The people in question groaned simultaneously and hid their faces.

"Bushy-Brows! What do you want?" Naruto demanded. Bushy-Brows started crying anime tears.

"I thought I asked you not to call me that Naruto! My name is Lee!" the boy said. Naruto snorted.

"Whatever. What are you over here for?"

Lee's eyes brightened and he blushed a bright pink. "Sakura-san," he started. Both Sakura and Gaara looked up at the same time. Sakura's face was filled with utter horror while Gaara looked murderous. "I wanted you to know that…" he took a deep breath and turned around. Their gym teacher Gai-sensei gave his favorite student a dramatic thumbs-up before Lee returned the gesture and continued speaking to Sakura. "I wanted you to know that I think you look beautiful and would you like to go to the dance with me?"

Shikamaru choked on the milk he was drinking. Naruto fell backwards in his chair laughing. Ten Ten and Hinata were biting their tongues to keep from saying anything. Kiba snorted and Akamaru started barking. Neji was staring blankly ahead regretting ever being acquainted to Lee. Gaara's face had drained of whatever color it had as he stared at the boy in front of him.

Sakura was…dumbstruck? No, not a good enough. Flabbergasted? Maybe…uhh…well anyway, she couldn't speak. The only word she was able to choke out was, "d-dance?"

Lee beamed. "Yes! The fall dance! Does this mean you'll go with me?" He started hopping up and down and Sakura almost fell backwards in fear.

"n-no! I…I mean…um, no. I'm sorry Lee but I can't go to the dance with you." Sakura forced out. She hated hurting the poor boy's feelings, but there was no way in hell she would go to a dance with him, considering she feared for her life from just being in his presence. Lee's whole figure seemed to droop, but out of no where he started crying majestic anime tears again and jumped up on the table. "I will find a way to make you like me Haruno Sakura! That's a promise! As long as there is a flow of youth within me I will never give up!"

Sakura: 0.0

There was a cry of, "GO LEE! I'M SO PROUD OF YOU!" from none other than Gai-sensei in the background. Lee saluted to Neji and Ten Ten and then spectacularly spun around and marched back to his teacher who gave him a hug.

Sakura: 0.0 "holy hell…what was that?"

"That was the infamous Rock Lee. I'm not particularly proud of the fact that he, Ten Ten, and I were all partners in a group project once. Ever since then he has pretty much considered us his best friends, except for the science teacher's pet squirrel." Neji explained.

"Oh," was all Sakura could manage.

The rest of the day Sakura stayed as close to whichever guy friend was around as she could. She didn't want any more Bushy-Brow incidents. Finally the last bell rang and Sakura joined her friends outside.

"Sorry, I have to leave early guys. I have to go to archery practice and then I have to help my parents clean house. Whoop-dee-do. When's the next practice?" Ten Ten asked while packing up her stuff and getting ready to leave.

Gaara shrugged. "Either tomorrow or the next day."

"Ok cool. I'll see ya later."

They waved Ten Ten goodbye. Neji made a point of waving to her car as it pulled away. Naruto whispered something to Hinata and she giggled. At this point Neji decided to leave and take his cousin with him.

"My mom'll kill me if I'm late getting home…god she's so annoying. Always such a drag." Shikamaru muttered. After he left Akamaru started getting restless so Kiba put him on a leash and started walking home. Naruto followed after him, hoping to get a free dinner out of him. Temari and Kankuro exchanged glances and left together.

Sakura looked over at Gaara. "Alone once again." she said crossing her arms. He nodded and put his arm around her shoulders. "How is it we're always the last two people on school grounds?" she continued. Gaara shrugged.

"Odd isn't it?" he muttered. Sakura nodded, but suddenly remembered what she had been wanting to ask him for a while. "Hey! What about this dance thing?"

"What about it?"

"Didn't you say we were gonna tell everybody at a dance?"

"Yeah."

"This dance?"

"Yup."

Sakura grinned. "I've never been to a dance before! Is it fun?"

"Only if you have a date. I usually avoid them."

"But I'll be your date this year right?"

"I suppose so…"

"Well ok. You better ask before anyone else does!"

Gaara cocked an eyebrow. "You're my girlfriend. Do I really have to ask you?"

"Yes! Nobody knows we're dating yet, and it would be special to me if you did." Sakura did a puppy-pout up into the black-ringed eyes of her boyfriend. He sighed and pulled her to stand up with him. They began walking.

"Sakura, will you—"

But his request remained unfinished. A sharp pain exploded through the back of Gaara's head. He fell to his knees and held his head. His eyes searched around, only to see Sakura being dragged backward by… "Ugh!" he cried in pain. Everything around him was muffled, and he only barely heard Sakura scream his name. His vision blurred, and his head was swimming. Whenever he moved he felt like he would be sick.

Sakura watched in horror as Gaara fell to the ground. She tried to scream but her mouth was covered. Tears started forming in her eyes, but she needed to get away. Whoever was covering her mouth also hand her hands held fast behind her, so she tried kicking free. It didn't work. She was being dragged around the corner of the school. She was choking from fear. Thoughts flooded her mind…about her mom and dad…and Gaara…and her friends. She'd never see them again. When this crossed her mind she started thrashing around again. Her strength threw her assaulter off guard.

"God stop it!" he demanded and kicked her in the leg.

"Hey let her go!"

Suddenly she was thrown to the ground. She turned to look at her rescuer.

_Oh…my…god…_

Sasuke was throwing punches everywhere at a second man who was wearing a mask. Sakura stood up and started running away. The masked man tried to push Sasuke off and follow her, but the raven haired boy refused to give up. He tackled the man, giving Sakura the chance she needed to get up, stumble, get up again, and run away. She rounded the corner and pulled out her cell phone…_9…1…1_

-ring-

-ring-

"_Hello this is your 991 operator. What is your emergency?"_

"Please!" Sakura screamed. "I was just attacked! My boyfriend was knocked unconscious and someone I knew attacked the guy who was after me and I'm running away, please help us!"

"_Yes, ma'am. What is you're location?"_

"1874 Ninja Way. Konoha High school. Hurry!"

"_Alright. I'm sending police and an ambulance. Ma'am we'd like for you to stay on the line,"_

But Sakura had already hung up and taken a quick glance behind her. There was no one there. She ran to the crumpled figure of Gaara on the ground. It turned out he was, in fact, conscious and was still holding his head. "Gaara!"

He groaned and tried to steady himself. "Sa—kura…"

"Oh my god, you're bleeding. There's an ambulance coming, ok?" she tried to look away from the back of his neck where little streams of blood were running down his back.

"Where…is he?" Gaara forced out, wincing in pain.

"Who?"

"The bastard who hurt you. Where is he? I'll…I'll kill him!" he gasped in pain when he made a sudden movement. Sakura looked all around them but there was no one. She wondered what had happened to Sasuke. The sound of police and ambulance sirens caught her attention. She saw them rounding the corner on the street and she ran out to flag them down. The ambulance pulled over and medics rushed out. Police started pouring out of their cars with guns in hand. Sakura pointed to behind the school. "There!" she yelled. "That's where my attacker is…or was! Hurry!" The police made no acknowledgement to her except for the fact that they ran in the direction she was pointing. The medics followed her over to Gaara, where the idiot was trying to stand on his own. He ended up crumpling back down on his knees. The medics told her to wait with the police cars so she wouldn't become upset. Hah! As if that was even possible. Sakura was already more upset than she had ever been in her life. However, she decided not to argue. To her surprise the police walked out with handcuffs on the masked man. Sasuke walked out behind them with handcuffs as well. Sakura ran out to the police.

"No! Don't take him too! He saved me!" she said going up to Sasuke. The boy in question gave a weak smirk through a bloody lip and a red swollen cheek. He also seemed to be limping.

"Standard procedure miss. We're taking them both in for questioning." One of the officers said. She nodded and another officer came up to her as the others walked away. "You were the girl who made the 911 call, right?" he asked. Sakura nodded. "Alright. We need you to tell us your whole story. Also you need to get checked over by the medics. Do you have any injuries?"

Sakura knew there was a bruise forming on her leg where she was kicked, but otherwise she was unharmed. "Only a bruise on my leg." She answered honestly. There was some yelling behind them, and Sakura turned around to see Gaara fighting off the medics. "No Gaara! Stop!" she cried and ran to them. Somehow he was standing on his own, which seemed to be a miracle considering moments ago he couldn't move without screaming in pain.

Gaara didn't like doctors. He hated being confined in hospital rooms and being poked with needles and things of the like. He had to find Sakura. A medic tried to grab his arm but he yanked it away. "Don't touch me!" he growled.

"No Gaara! Stop!"

He turned to see the blurry form of Sakura running to him. He tried blinking to make the image clearer but it wasn't working. Sakura ran and held him in a tight hug. "Gaara, please stop! You have to cooperate, please! You're hurt!"

"I'm fine." He argued. She pulled away and slapped him.

"Stop it! You're hurt, Gaara! You could die! You are NOT going to leave me here alone now get in the back of that ambulance now!"

Gaara tried to steady himself after her slap and almost raised his own hand to teach her a lesson about hitting him but stopped. Instead he sighed in defeat and kissed her forehead. He could tell she was crying and gave her a weak hug before letting some medics tie him to a stretcher and close the doors of the ambulance behind him. Being helpless was not something Gaara enjoyed. Not at all.

Mr. and Mrs. Haruno ran through the doors of the police department. The multicolored hair belonging to their daughter led them straight to her. "Mom? Dad?" she said turning around.

"Sakura!" they both exclaimed. Mrs. Haruno pulled Sakura into a hug and Mr. Haruno joined in.

"I didn't think you would be here until way later!" Sakura said when her parents pulled away.

"Oh no! I walked out of the office as soon as you called. Your father did too." Sakura's mom said.

"But I thought you guys couldn't just leave work like that though." Sakura wondered out loud.

"Honey, you think we would leave you like this. You are always more important than our jobs." Her dad explained. His statement left Sakura a little confused but she didn't question him. "Have you already told the police everything that happened?" he asked.

"Yeah. They're questioning Sasuke and the masked guy right now." Sakura confirmed.

"What about Gaara?" her mom asked. Sakura's breath caught. She hadn't seen Gaara since they took him in the ambulance.

"I don't know," she whispered with tears welling up again. Her parents gave sympathetic looks at her and hugged their daughter again.

It was two days after the attack. She had millions of messages left on her phone by her friends as to why she had missed school two days in a row and why Gaara wasn't there either. She hadn't felt like calling them back and explaining. She had gone through her story at least five times to the police. Sasuke's story had been that he was staying after school to finish a school project and that he had gone out the back door when he was finished, where he found the masked man dragging sakura around the building. It had gone along with Sakura's story, and the teacher he was working with agreed. With this alibi, Sasuke was allowed to go free.

The masked man had confessed to being hired by none other than Yamanaka Ino. He was paid to kidnap Sakura and was then supposed to take her to a wooded area to meet Ino. After that he said he had no other information.

That had also been mentioned on the messages left on her phone. _Sakura! Why won't you answer your phone? You're really freaking us out. Anyway, you won't believe what happened today! Ino was arrested in the middle of class! _

None of this information seemed to bother Sakura though, because her mind was occupied by one fact: She was finally able to go see Gaara in the hospital. Her parents went with her. Room 465. Sakura took a shaky breath and stepped inside. Gaara looked like he was glaring at the ceiling. He had a bandage around his head and his arms were crossed.

"Gaara?"

The man in question looked toward the source of the voice. "Sakura,"

Her eyes welled up with tears for the billionth time in two days. She walked around the side of the bed and took his hand.

With a grunt he sat up straight and used her hand to pull her into a kiss. He could feel her tears sliding down his face and his arms slid around her waist and into a hug. She hid her eyes on his shoulder. "Where were you?" he asked.

"I'm sorry; I couldn't leave the police station. They kept telling me that you were unfit for visitation."

"They're liars. I've been perfectly aware and awake and everything since yesterday morning. I can walk, but they won't let me out of this damn bed. I hate hospitals."

"I'm so sorry Gaara." He scooted to the far side of the little bed and she pulled herself up to sit beside him. "How's you head?" she asked, fingering a lock of his red hair. He shrugged.

"I'm fine with a little aspirin every two hours."

Sakura giggled and rested her head on his shoulder. Suddenly her cell rang. Gaara seemed a little annoyed with the high frequency sound, so for his sake she decided to finally answer it.

"Hello?"

_"Sakura! Finally! Where are you?"_ It was Naruto. Sakura glanced at Gaara, who sort of nodded that it was alright with him.

"Look, I can't talk long, but I'm with Gaara. We're at the hospital and—"

_"WHAT!? What the hell happened!?"_

"Idiot! Don't scream into the phone." Gaara growled.

There was some muffled talking on the end, and then some arguing. Temari's voice was now on the line. _"Gaara? Sakura? Where are you?"_

"The hospital." Sakura answered again.

_"What?! Why?!"_

"Look, I can't really explain everything right now, but we'll be back at school soon, ok?"

_"Wait! What room? We're coming to visit you!"_

"No!" Gaara shouted. Visions of Naruto exploding into the room were already giving him a headache.

"Look I'm sorry Temari but you can't come visit. Like I said, we'll be back at school soon so don't worry about it."

_"But we're family! Don't we need to sign papers or something?"_

Oh…crap. They had Sakura there. "Umm…I'll get back to you on that. We'll talk to you later." Sakura hung up and turned her phone off. "Sorry about that." she apologized to Gaara. He stared at her hand in his.

"Sakura…" he squeezed her hand. "I'm sorry I couldn't protect you." He forced out. Sakura could tell it was hard for him to say something like that.

"No, don't say that. It's not your fault. Gaara, it's amazing that you were even able to stay awake after he hit you. That blow would've knocked any normal person out cold, if not killed. Your resilience is incredible. You don't know how proud of you I am." Sakura smiled and kissed his cheek, but she could tell her speech hadn't convinced him. She knew that if he heard any mention of Sasuke saving her life he would absolutely lose it.

About that time, Sakura's parents knocked on the door. Sakura climbed out of the bed and gave Gaara a small kiss goodbye. She waved to him then disappeared behind the door.

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again, sorry if it's not long enough to make up for what i've missed. I'll be waiting for reviews!...at least, i hope i will...

lata-gatas!

--Olly


	16. Chapter 16

AHH OMIGAWD!!!!!!!!!

well, by a stroke of luck i was able to have internet AND my story in close contact with one another, meaning i coud UPDATE! don't get too excited because its only a one night deal, but i wanted to do what i could. its shorter than most of my chapters and it has an awkward cutoff but at least it HERE.

plus i guess this is kind of a Christmas present to y'all...

so i hope you enjoy!

-Olly BaaBaa-Chan

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Disclaimer: don't own Naruto (or a steady stream of internet connection, unfourtunately, for that matter)

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The following Monday both Gaara and Sakura were allowed to go back to school, but Gaara was forbidden to ride his motorcycle for at least two weeks. At first Gaara tried to argue but gave up eventually. Sakura's dad went to the auto shop and got her car which had finally been repaired. Her parents couldn't afford to miss anymore work, but weren't about to leave their daughter alone. They spoke with Hinata's dad and it was agreed that Sakura could go home with Hinata and Neji everyday after school. Gaara was a little disheartened when Sakura told him, but knew it would be for the best. He'd been informed that he was going to have to ride with Temari and Kankuro who were almost certainly going to bombard him with a million questions. Oh yeah, this week was going to suck.

Sakura pulled into the school parking lot. Without Gaara there to keep her up on her timing she ended up being later than everyone else. She seemed to be wearing even more black than usual, signaling she was depressed. Of course, who wouldn't be after what she'd been through? Halfway to the tree, Sakura's beeline was blocked off by Sasuke who stood there as if expecting something.

"Oh," Sakura muttered. "Hey Sasuke." She tried to avoid his gaze and walk around him but he caught her arm and spun her around so her back was to her friends. Seeing Sakura seized by Sasuke made her friends become curious, especially Gaara. They started moving closer to protect Sakura if she needed it, stopping just far enough away to hear what they were saying.

"Blossom, don't walk past me like that. It saddens me." Sasuke said in a mock-sad voice.

"sorry." Sakura mumbled. "But don't call me that."

He smirked. "Sakura, I want you to come to the fall dance with me." He stroked her arm, but she pulled away.

"No…" she replied.

"Why not? I saved your life after all. You can't give me this one thing?" he smirked and went up to touch the ends of her hair.

Seeing Sasuke do that to Sakura was making the group angrier by the second. Every one of the guys was about ready to go up to Sasuke and tell him to fuck off. It would've been Gaara had Kiba not stepped up first, Akamaru trailing along at his heels.

"Back off Uchiha. She can't go to the dance with you because she already as a date." He growled.

Sasuke scoffed. "Oh? And who would that be? Certainly not you. You're going with your stupid mutt aren't you? Such a cute couple." He laughed at his own joke while Sakura gasped and Kiba snarled. She knew Kiba wouldn't show it, but he really was hurt.

Akamaru lunged forward and bit Sasuke's leg. "Argh! Fucking mutt! Let go!" Sasuke shook Akamaru off and kicked the puppy a clear ten feet back to the tree. The poor animal whimpered but then didn't move.

"Akamaru!" Kiba screamed and went to the side of his best friend. Sakura stared in horror.

"You monster! How could you do that!?" she screamed. Sakura tried to punch him but he ducked. She pushed him to the ground and kicked him in the side. He stood up and slapped her. Sakura gasped and held her burning cheek.

"Little bitch!"

She didn't have time to think as a pair of arms pulled her up. Shikamaru stood behind her. "Oh shit…" he muttered. She looked around to see what he was upset about.

_Oh God!_

Gaara was advancing towards Sasuke with a folding knife. Sasuke was backing away but looked more pissed than scared. "How dare you touch her you worthless shit!" Gaara snarled.

"She likes it when I touch her, don't you Blossom?" Sasuke called to her. She felt like she would be sick, and had to cling to Ten Ten to not fall over.

Gaara took the opportunity to punch Sasuke to the ground while he was distracted. The blade of the knife made a three inch long cut in Sasuke's perfect cheek. He grunted when he hit the ground, and Gaara pounced on top of the momentarily dazed Sasuke. He pinned the onyx-eyed boy's arms with his knees and placed the blade against his prisoner's jugular.

"How dare you say things like that to her!" Gaara growled. He pressed the knife a little harder to Sasuke's throat. Sasuke coughed.

"Idiot. Do you want to get expelled again?" he smirked.

"Shut up. You think I care about getting expelled? I said I was going to kill you. You say one more word and I will." Gaara snarled.

"Tsk tsk tsk. You really should learn how to control your temper, Gaara. All I did was ask her to the dance." Sasuke smirked.

"Son of a bitch! You did more than that and you know it! It only gives me more reason to slice your neck open right now." Gaara nearly made his threat a reality. His eyes were wide with a kind of hunger that Sakura had never seen. Naruto and Neji tackled their friend from behind and pulled him off Sasuke. The said boy scrambled to his feet and stumbled back away from the bloodthirsty red-head who was trying to fight off his friends and kill him.

"Make yourself scarce unless you really do want to die Uchiha, because if he gets loose we'll help him kill ya!" Naruto warned.

Sasuke scoffed at them but nonetheless took the advice and fled the scene. It took a long ten minutes for Gaara to calm down. The entire school grounds were silent, afraid of what he would do next. Every face was turned to their small troop of friends. Gaara's emerald eyes scanned the area and he shrugged his two friends off. He put his knife away and rubbed his temples before walking over to Sakura and taking her face in his hands.

"You ok?" he asked. She nodded. "If he ever does anything like that again, you tell me. Understand?" she nodded. He sighed and his gaze wandered away for a moment but it founds its way back to Sakura's eyes. "Did I scare you?" he asked. Sakura tried to blink back tears as she nodded. She had seriously thought he was going to kill Sasuke. He looked guiltily at the ground. "I'm sorry." His hands left her face and sunk into his pockets. Sakura mumbled something but turned away. That's when she suddenly remembered Kiba and Akamaru. She pulled Gaara by his arm over to where Hinata and Kiba were hunched over the lifeless-looking puppy. The rest of the group seemed to remember too, and followed suit to go check on them. Kiba looked like he was going to cry. The small dog was barely breathing and each breath was followed by a small whimper. Sakura pulled out her phone and called Kiba's home, where his sister picked up.

Sakura explained what had happened with Akamaru and Kiba's sister agreed to drive down to the school, pick up Akamaru, and take him to the vet. It was only five minutes before her car pulled up. Kiba carefully carried his friend to the car where he wrapped him in some towels. He begged to go with his sister, but she refused and drove off leaving the empty-hearted and broken-looking Kiba behind.

All the girls seemed to crowd around Kiba in sympathy. The guys just kinda stood around them in a semi-circle. Kiba took a deep breath, and then started walking. Ten Ten grabbed his jacket and tried to pull him back.

"Where are you going?" she asked. Kiba didn't move. He mumbled something about going for a walk and started walking again. Sakura was worried at what Kiba might do while on his walk, but when she tried to follow him she was pulled back by Neji. The group stood there in silence as one comrade was driven to the vet while another sauntered away in the opposite direction.

Sakura made a point to stay close to her friends that day. Gaara didn't say a word to anyone, even his desolate girlfriend. The other four guys made a point of staying near him though, incase he lost it again. Thankfully, nothing else happened that day, except for the fact that their little group that had once been over looked by all others was now the center of attention from students and teachers alike. In English class Kakashi-sensei didn't read his book and actually went in front of the class to go through their notes. Sakura suspected maybe he just wanted to be in front of the class so he could clearly see if anything erupted from Gaara, Neji, Hinata, or herself. In gym Gai-sensei didn't make them run laps but let them go straight to basketball practice.

Sakura was even pulled aside by the principal Tsunade between class changes. "Sakura may I have a word with you?" she asked. Sakura cast a quick glance toward her friends but nodded and followed the woman to her office. Sakura was still somewhat new, and had only once or twice spoken with the large-chested, blonde-headed woman. It was only once they was safely in her principal's office that Sakura questioned, "what is it Tsunade-shishou?"

Tsunade gave a small smile. "Sakura, from what I've heard about you I know you're a very bright young woman. All A's on your assignments and a nice person all around. You remind me of myself when I was your age. I understand you've had a rough few first weeks her in Konoha, but you have a good group of friends…from what I know of them, they are all good students, but there's one person I'm particularly interested in talking with you about."

Sakura could already tell where this was going. She sighed. "It's Gaara, isn't it?"

Tsunade folded her arms and leaned back in her chair. "Yes Sakura, it is."

Sakura knew Gaara didn't have the greatest reputation in school, but she had seen the tender side of him. The caring side…the side that loved his friends…and herself. She leaned forward and tried to protest. "Tsunade-shishou, I know Gaara's had some trouble but he and I just had a horrible event happen to the both of us. He just got out of the hospital, and—"

Tsunade cut Sakura off, "Sakura, I know all about your little accident last week. I know Gaara was only just recently discharged from the hospital, and I understand you and he are what one may call _friends_, but Subaku no Gaara is not quite the man you may think. His actions on the school grounds this morning were not overlooked. The only reason we did not call the police and have him arrested was because we saw what Uchiha Sasuke did. It was hardly justifiable, but it still gave Gaara no reason to attack him. We have already spoken to Sasuke, but Gaara is somewhat less easy to talk to."

"Where are you going with this?" Sakura asked. "I know Gaara's not the star student, but you said yourself you saw what Sasuke did! He hit me, insulted our friends, and sent Akamaru to the animal hospital! He hurt Kiba so bad on the inside that we haven't seen him since he walked off this morning." By this point Sakura was standing over her principal and nearly yelling. Said woman sighed and stood up from her seat. She walked around her desk and pulled the surprised Sakura into a hug.

"Like I said, you remind me of myself. Subaku no Gaara can be very dangerous at times. I witnessed his first major attack about two years ago. He was expelled for nearly a year before he came back to school."

Sakura pulled away from the face full of breas—(A/N –ahem-) Sakura pulled away from the hug and gazed into her principal's eyes. "Attack?"

Tsunade sighed into a smile and released Sakura. "I just want you to be careful. I understand you'll be going home with Hyuuga Hinata and Hyuuga Neji?" she verified while making her way back to her seat. Sakura nodded. "Good. Now don't be late to class." And with that Tsunade dismissed her.

That had to be the strangest conversation Sakura had ever had with any teacher, let alone a principal. She made her way back to class. Ten Ten looked up when she entered, as did Naruto, but neither of them asked her any questions.

Sakura walked out with Hinata and Ten Ten and they found the rest of their friends by the usual tree. Gaara was out of site on his favorite tree branch. "Sakura, father wants us home as soon as we're out of school." Hinata stated a little shyly. Sakura nodded and waved good bye to all her friends. She walked to her car and from there followed Hinata and Neji to their home.

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right, so, hope y'all dont mind that sticky drama that almost all hs fics end up having, even this one. (if you didn't get the hint, it involves the 'attack')

anyways, like i said, sorry its short. i promise i'll update again next time i get a clear chance.

so Merry Christmas, Happy Hanuka, or if you just prefer 'Happy Holidays'. Happy New Year too, just incase.

review, please!

-Olly


	17. Chapter 17

so...talk about return of the dead right? i'm back, and i've got a new trick. olly-baa-baa-chan is ten times as slick as the last time, the last time you saw her...

anyways, i just wanted y'all to know that no, i have not abandoned the story. i have only recently gotten some questionably slow, but at least accesable internet. it's really only for work though, so i won't be using it for FFnet quite as often i used to.

but, hey! it's actual net, right? woohoo! -happy dance-

i really am sorry for not being able to update sooner, and so i hope you enjoy this chapter, however boring and un-climactic it might be.

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Disclaimer: Don't own Naruto...Or Magical Trevor.

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Gaara sulked from his perch as he watched Sakura, Hinata, and Neji disappear into the parking lot. He glared down at anything and everything. Half of him was ashamed for scaring Sakura; the other half still wanted to slice Sasuke's throat for what he did. What if Sakura didn't want him anymore? He wouldn't know what to do if she suddenly left him… after all the things he'd done for her. He'd shared his biggest secret and helped paint her room and given her rides on his bike and even given up his first kiss with her. Gaara stared at his own hands in anger. _Dammit! Why'd I have to go and lose it?_ He could never just pass up a moment to make himself look like the blood-thirsty maniac everyone thought he was. He knew Principal Tsunade had talked to Sakura, no doubt about 'that' day. But what Sasuke had done made his blood boil. _I should have never gotten caught up in all this! It's all so stupid! Argh! Everything was fine before she came! _Gaara found himself mentally cursing Sakura for all the things she had done since her arrival only a few months ago. None of those things had really been bad things. In fact, most of them were friendly, caring things; but Gaara had been lured by her beautiful soul, and now he was paying the price. He got so tangled in the thoughts of his first crush that he went berserk and almost killed another person.

_**But Sasuke deserved it**__._ His inner self reminded him.

_But if she hadn't come none of this would've happened at all._

_**But if she hadn't come you'd be in the same place you were before: Lonely, with no real friends and a black-marked record.**_

_I still have a bad record, which coincidentally is even worse now than it was before. And I had friends before she came…all eight of them. It was just the nine of us._

_**You were only protecting her, and did you really have friends? They were friends, and you were the leader, but other than that it wasn't as tight a group when you were around. They were afraid of you, even Naruto and your siblings.**_

Gaara thought about his inner self's argument on that one. It was true: they had been friends and invited him to they're little parties and formed a band and were brave enough to make an occasional joke with him, but before Sakura came he wasn't much more than just a team leader. They all admired him, but in a fearful sort of way. Naruto was his "best" friend, but they were far from being particularly close. It pained Gaara to realize all that he had been missing out on. It was like he missed a whole chapter of his life before Sakura came. And…was it really her fault? Wasn't it his fault for falling for her first? Or was it no one's fault? Was she really the one to blame for his outburst? No, of course not. Sakura hadn't done anything except come into his life and make it a million times better than it was before. He could talk to her and not feel annoyed. He could kiss her and not feel embarrassed. He could hold her and not feel cold and empty. He had shown her his art, smiled around her, and even opened up to his friends more than he had realized.

Gaara's eyebrows furrowed again. _But I couldn't protect her. She ended up saving me and I had nothing to offer in return. _He ran his pale hands through his hair in frustration. With a quick glance below him Gaara noticed that most everyone else was already gone. Kankuro and Temari were a little ways away, talking amongst themselves. _Probably about me, _Gaara thought. Goosebumps started emerging from his arms as the first autumn chill tickled its way through the tree branches. He wished he could ride his bike home. He missed it, though once Gaara thought about it, it would be too lonely riding it now. His second helmet would look so forlorn and empty without Sakura. Come to think of it, why did he even have a second helmet? He heaved a heavy, stress-filled sigh and climbed to down to join his brother and sister. Life had become so much more complicated. _What am I going to do?_

--(Ah-ha-ha-ha-ha! Divider line!!)-- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --

Sakura's car pulled into the Hyuuga's driveway. Hinata went to join her as she stepped out of her car, and Neji led them to the front door. Sakura knew of the Hyuuga's extraordinary reputation. They had more family success stories than anyone in town. Practically all of the people in their family grew up to be famous doctors and lawyers or scientists of some kind. Sakura could tell Neji was already following in those well treaded footsteps. He was the school prodigy after all. Hinata also had plenty of hidden potential, but often didn't show it.

Well, their house was no exception. It was a large mansion-like home with beautifully painted Japanese doors and clean silver windows. It seemed to match the cousin's combined personalities perfectly: Strong and well built and yet clean and modest. It made Sakura present a small grin.

Neji unlocked the door and they stepped inside, each being careful to remove their shoes and place them in the appropriate place. "Father?" Hinata called softly. A tall man appeared from around a corner. He was tall, with strong white eyes and the look of a man who never took crap from anyone, be it family or not. Sakura was amazed at how his facade more favored his nephew Neji rather than his own daughter. Perhaps Hinata took more after her mom? Hinata went and stood next to him and said, "Father, this is our friend Haruno Sakura. Sakura this is my father Hyuuga Hiashi."

Sakura bowed politely to the man called Hiashi. "Arigato Hyuuga-san. My family and I are in your debt." The words tasted funny in her mouth, because she hadn't spoken so formally since she had moved. Hiashi looked her over carefully, as if inspecting every aspect of her person. Sakura wondered if he would be displeased by her odd hair, but then again Hinata had colored hair as well and had dyed it before. She didn't guess he would be disgruntled by her clothing, because Hinata and Neji wore similar clothes. The man nodded, but it didn't seem to show approval or displeasure.

Sakura stood straight again and offered a small smile. He only looked at her with his pearl eyes and said, "Yes, I spoke with your father. He is to call when he leaves work and then again once he is home." Sakura nodded in understanding that she was to leave once her father called and said he was at the house waiting for her. As much as she appreciated her dad's concern she knew that it was going to greatly annoy her in a little while. So many restrictions! Everyone was glad that she had more protection now, incase she was attacked again. But now she couldn't go anywhere without constant supervision; her friends and she couldn't go anywhere alone (despite the whole strength in numbers concept—There was ten of them after all), and now, even though she loved being with Hinata and Neji, she wasn't even allowed to leave the perimeter of their home without a call from her dad. Oh yeah, this was going to suck after the first three days or so.

Hiashi gave them all a stern eye. "Remember, this is not play time for you three. You are still expected to do your school work." The three teens bowed to the older Hyuuga once again and grabbed their bags. Hinata led Sakura down a long hall. After passing about four doors on either side, Hinata stopped in front of one on the left.

"This is my room," she said and slid the door open. Sakura stepped inside. It was a moderate sized room with pale green walls and pictures of calligraphy. The trim and doors were white, and her bed was a shade darker then the walls with simple floral stitching. "It's not quite as extravagant as your room, but it works." Hinata shyly stated.

Actually Sakura admired the plainness of it. Her room was the envy of all her friends, but she appreciated simple rooms as well. However, somehow she had imagined Hinata's room to be purple for some reason. There was the sound of the door sliding closed. When they turned around Neji was gone. Soft footsteps were heard moving over the wood floors in the hallway. Hinata mentioned that he was probably heading for his own room. Sakura guessed the closing of the door was Neji's own way of saying, "well, I have a shit-load of homework so I'm heading for my room to do it while you girls do…whatever it is you girls do."

Hinata headed over to the left side of the room, in the direction of her bed. She planted herself on it and beckoned for Sakura to join her. Sakura did so, with silent communication:

Sakura sighed--'God, I hate homework.'

Hinata nodded--'I know. Me too.'

Sakura pulled out her math book--'you want to do math first?'

Hinata shrugged--'sure.'

Sakura started digging through her bag--'I can't find my pencil.'

Hinata handed her a pencil--'here you go.'

Sakura smiled--'thanks.'

Hinata smiled back--'no problem.'

The Hyuuga's are a very soft-spoken family.

The silence continued for a good hour or so, with only the interruption of shuffling positions and questioning glances. Sakura was very smart, but couldn't help but notice that Hinata sped through her homework faster than herself. And when they checked their answers, Hinata's were correct most of the time. Sakura heaved a triumphant sigh as she closed her notebook. Finally! It was over…at least until tomorrow. A soft knock at the door at last coaxed some words from Hinata's mouth. "Come in," she invited.

The head of a young girl emerged from the hallway. She looked about twelve, with the trademark Hyuuga eyes and dark hair. "Where's Neji-niisan?" she demanded, completely ignoring that Sakura was even there.

"You know he's probably in his room," Hinata offered. "You should also know he's probably still working on his homework."

The girl rolled her eyes. "Neji works faster than you. Don't think that because you've just finished doesn't mean he's not already done, even if he did have more work than you."

Hinata looked hurt. She shared most of her classes with Neji anyway, with the exception of history and foreign language. But they were close to the same level at least… Hinata shook of the hurt look and asked, "Well what do you need him for anyway?"

The girl smirked. "I want to spar with him."

"So you can get beat again? You know you can't win against him." Hinata argued.

The girl's pale skin reddened in anger. "Well it's better than you can do against him!" With that she practically slammed the fragile door leaving an embarrassed Hinata behind. Sakura stared at her friend as Hinata bit her lips and put her book away.

"Who was that?" Sakura asked. How could that girl act like that? Sakura was surprised that such a disrespectful girl could live in such an orderly home.

"My little sister, Hanabi." Hinata answered.

Sakura stared at the closed door. Her own little sister, and not even a little respect! "Well are you going to just let her talk to you like that?" she asked in anger. Hinata started poking her pointer fingers together. Sakura looked at her. "Well? Are you?"

Hinata didn't look at her, but said, "Father favors Hanabi over me. He allows her to act like that around me, because he sees her as the stronger between the two of us. I'm not strong-willed, but she is…and that's one of the few things my father admires."

Sakura scowled. "Well I don't admire it. It's completely wrong! Your younger sister shouldn't treat you like that just because she thinks she's better than you." Sakura stood up in huff and started out the door. Hinata gasped and followed after her.

"No Sakura! You can't say anything to her! We'll get in trouble if you say anything! P-please!" she pleaded. However, Sakura ignored her and kept walking, leaving her friend behind near her room. She could hear voices from around the corner. She followed them.

Down another hallway she found Hanabi, knocking on the door of what Sakura guessed was Neji's room. "Niisan! Come spar with me! Father said its good training for me!"

Neji slid the door open and leaned in the doorway. Hanabi held a triumphant smirk and his emergence. He crossed his arms. "I said no, Hanabi."

She made a noise of anger. "Niisan! I know you're done with your work! Now come and spar with me!"

Neji glanced at Sakura (who was waiting for the perfect moment to go up and slap Hanabi) and then glared at the youngest girl. "How dare you act so disrespectful to me, and when we have a guest?"

His glare made her lower her defenses. "I'll tell father!" she warned.

Neji leaned down to her level. "Tell him what? That you were screaming and acting like a rude spoiled brat when there's a guest? Not to mention you're not supposed to act like that anyway?"

Hanabi breathed a deep, anger filled breath. She spun on the balls of her feet and walked off in a huff. Sakura started to advance after her, but Neji stopped her. "Sakura," he said grabbing her arm. He sensed her anger. "What did Hanabi do?" he asked, already guessing the answer.

"She was horrible to Hinata. That girl needs to be taught a lesson. I don't care if her father—"

Neji cut her off, arguing "no, Sakura. You _will_ care. Hanabi has always been like that." he pulled her into his room to continue the conversation, so hopefully no one would listen in. "Hinata is the Hyuuga heir, but she doesn't necessarily pose the expected Hyuuga nature. Hanabi does, and even though it's wrong Hiashi-san favors her, despite the fact that Hinata is older. He has seen the way Hanabi treats her sister, but he never says anything."

"But that's cruel!" Sakura protested. "Hinata is just as good as her and a nicer person all around and she deserves—"

Again he cut her off. "Yes Sakura. I'm already aware that Hinata deserves more than she receives, but there's nothing I can do except deny Hanabi's demands whenever I can. Her father wants me to train her, but I don't want to. She constantly wants me to spar, but I always lie and claim to still do my homework…speaking of which…" he walked over to a desk on the right side of his room. Sakura took in her surroundings. The room was similar to Hinata's, but the walls were dark blue, and there were no pictures. His bed matched his walls. Ok…so Sakura liked plain rooms, but this was just too plain. He came back with a sheet of notes. "This is Hinata's." he said. "Somehow it ended up in my notebook." Sakura nodded and took the paper from him.

"Sorry," she muttered dejectedly. "But I still don't think Hinata deserves that."

Neji shrugged. "I agree with you," he shrugged. "But since when do any of us get what we deserve?"

Sakura twisted her mouth at his mocking tone. "Except for punishments you mean?" she asked him. He chuckled in response.

"Maybe for you." He argued pointedly. Sakura pretended to be utterly offended.

"Oh as if you've never gotten in trouble before, Mr. Perfect!" she pouted. Like the people on TV, Sakura spun dramatically on the balls of her feet and proceeded to stomp quite defiantly out the door. However, her theatrical exit was interrupted by an exasperated Hinata stepping through the door. Sobered by her friend's worried expression, Sakura dropped her smile and stood aside to allow Hinata room to enter.

Hinata whimpered, "What did she say? Wh-what did Hanabi do?" Neji walked over to pet his cousin on the back. "It's alright," he assured her. "Nothing bad happened. Hanabi didn't do anything."

Comforted by her older cousin, Hinata turned to Sakura with a look of sheer annoyance. Sakura (surprised by this sudden change of expression) crumpled in fear like a puppy who'd been caught chewing on its master's shoes. "You!" Hinata squeaked. "You had me scared to death!"

"Sorry," mumbled gloomily the one girl whom was currently being glared at. "I was just trying to help. You're little sister really has no right to treat you so disrespectfully."

Hinata closed her eyes and sighed. "It's fine, Sakura. I appreciate your help but it's my problem not yours."

"But you're my friend! What's your problem is my problem too." Sakura pointed out. Hinata looked touched, but when she tried to reply she was cut off by Neji.

"That's all fine and good, but Hinata's right. Besides, it's not her troubles you should be worrying about, Sakura." The young man told her as he sat on his bed and picked up a book. Sakura looked at him questioningly but it was clear that Neji was going to offer no explanation to his reasoning. _Lifestyles of Platypuses Around the World _was apparently too enticing for him to continue the conversation.

Instead Hinata rolled her eyes and answered Sakura's question for him. "What Neji means is you should focus more what's happening right now with you and even Gaara. That's much more important than my bratty little sister."

Multicolored locks fell to cover the face of a heavily burdened girl. "Honestly," she said, "I'd rather not think about it. It's all too confusing."

"Well, it'll only get worse _unless_ you think about it. No good comes from being confused." Hinata lectured. She pulled Sakura over closer to Neji's bed and sat her down to talk. The white-eyed girl seemed to completely ignore the fact that she was intruding into her cousin's privacy. Who knew those platypuses could be so intriguing? But Neji made no notion that he was either annoyed or wanted them to leave, so Sakura settled into her spot and waited for Hinata to continue.

"What do you want to talk about then?" inquired Hinata as she pulled herself into a crisscross-applesauce position.

"What do you want me to talk about?" Sakura asked.

"Well, for example, what happened when you went to Tsunade-shishou's office?" Hinata asked. Sakura grimaced, knowing that question would have come up eventually. Suddenly she wished she wasn't the most popular girl in school, because then people wouldn't be watching her every moment of the day. If she went to the principal's office no one would give a shit.

"ahh…well…she brought me in and started talking about how I remind her of herself and what not and then she said something about another attack that Gaara was in. do you guys no anything about that?" Sakura asked while looking up into the white eyes of her friends. Hinata heaved a sigh and Neji finally put down his book.

"Sakura," Neji began in a pained voice. "Hinata and I aren't the best people to explain to you what happened…"

Well now Sakura was curious. "What? Tell me! What happened?" Her head flipped back and forth to look at each of the cousins.

"It's not our place to tell you, but maybe you should go to Naruto." Hinata said. And that was that. Neither of the cousins offered any more information. Hinata took Sakura back to her room and Neji picked back up on his book. Soon enough Sakura's dad called and Sakura had to leave for home with brand new questions swirling through her mind.

-- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --

well, on the brighter side: it _is_ longer than the previous chapter. i appreciate constructive criticism... quite especially in "Review" form. thanks!

Until Next Time,

-Olly-BaaBaa-Chan


	18. Chapter 18

-Sigh- alright, alright. i promised it would be here, and there you are: Chapter 18, everybody. -Rounds of applause-

--

Disclaimer: you think **_I _**could own Naruto? PSH! yeah right.

--

Three more days passed before Sakura could gather up the courage to ask Naruto about Gaara's former 'incident'. And actually, it turned out he was a very hard person to ask a serious question. For one, she could never get the blonde alone to ask him anything…and the one time she did he had asked her why she had suddenly decided to push him around a corner and up against the wall. Sakura apologized and just asked him to call her that night. It was unlikely he would though; Naruto could never remember anyone's phone number.

Also, Gaara wasn't making Sakura's job any easier. Every time she tried to hold his hand or walk next to him in the hallway, he would get a sort of fearful tint in his eye and turn her the cold shoulder. _Why are doing this to me!?_ Inner Sakura screamed at the back of her disappearing boyfriend, while outer Sakura growled and punched the school wall before tears started forming and she screamed out loud herself.

For the fourth time that week, Sakura followed Hinata and Neji home. For the fourth time that week, Sakura shadowed their steps as they walked into their home. For the fourth time that week Sakura trudged towards Hinata's room to work on homework. But this fourth night was different…this fourth night was the night that Naruto had forgotten his homework…

Hinata answered her ringing phone. "Hello?" pause. "Naruto?" pause. "You left it at school?" pause. "I don't know…I'll have to ask my father." Hinata motioned to Sakura that she would be gone for a moment and hurried out her room. Sakura stared at her history homework with no form of motivation whatsoever. Instead she decided to count the sheep that were oh so happily jumping past her over Hinata's pale green bedspread and into the matching pale green wall…

_25……26……27……28……29……30……_

"Sakura are you ok?"

Sakura glanced up to meet the pearl eyes of her now returned friend. "Just counting the moments until you returned!" the girl answered with a sheepish smile.

Hinata tried to smile back but couldn't. "Um…are you sure?" Sakura took her hand and gave it a reassuring squeeze. The white-eyed girl nodded and continued. "Ok, well Naruto forgot his math homework at school and if he doesn't get at least a B on this assignment Iruka-sensei is going to fail him for the semester. He's coming over now so we can help him."

Upon hearing the news that she might possibly have a slight chance at getting Naruto alone to tell her about Gaara suddenly put Sakura in a better mood. It wasn't long before the two girls were engaged in yet another silent conversation while they waited for Naruto to arrive.

Of course, Naruto had absolutely no respect for their silence. He barged in quite unexpectedly with Neji trailing his heels. At seeing her cousin, Hinata gave him a questionable glance. "Hiashi doesn't want a guy in your room without supervision." was all he said. _It makes sense_, Sakura thought. Hiashi-sama was one of the most traditional people she knew. He would indeed say something like that.

"Hi Hinata! Hi Sakura!" Naruto greeted with a grin. The girls said their hellos. The blonde boy took off his back pack and dropped it to the floor before he sat down. Ramen spilled out of it like an angry army of ants whose hill had just been kicked.

"No wonder you're failing almost all your classes. All you can think about is ramen." Neji stated disapprovingly.

"That's not true! I just appreciate a good snack every now and then!" Naruto retorted defensively while trying to shove all the ramen back in his bag.

Hinata took the chance to break between the two men before an argument arose. "Naruto, don't you need a copy of the assignment?" she asked. Naruto nodded. Neji, who was very quickly becoming annoyed with having the blonde-idiot-wonder in his home, picked up his own sheet of the homework and preceded down the hall to a room with a copy machine.

With Neji gone, Naruto seemed a little more at ease and made himself comfortable on Hinata's floor. "I'm thirsty." He announced.

"That's amazing." Sakura countered sarcastically. Naruto gave her a playful glare before turning and looking hopefully at Hinata. She rolled her eyes before saying, "I'll go make some tea…"

Sakura's eyes widened. This was it! Her chance to ask Naruto her question! As soon as Hinata's silhouette faded from the frame of her sliding door, Sakura bounced off the bed and onto the floor so that she could be eye level with the fox boy. Blue eyes blinked at her in surprise. "Ah-uh Sakura-chan?" he asked. Sakura bit her lip. "Naruto, I need to ask you a question. It's important." She explained. Naruto tried to create at least some distance between him and the girl, but gave up after only accomplishing a couple inches.

"But Sakura-chan, you're the smart one! I came here for help on my homework, not yours!" he whined. Sakura's eye twitched and she hit him upside his idiot head.

"Stupid! It's not a homework question!" she barked. Naruto moaned and held his head.

"You guys always have to hit me! Why do you always hit me?" he whimpered. Sakura gave him an apologetic look. The poor kid did get hit a lot.

"Sorry," she offered. Naruto looked at her and nodded in acceptation to her apology, so Sakura continued. "Naruto, please take this seriously. I have a question about Gaara…"

But Naruto wouldn't let her finish. He shook his head no and stood up. Sakura sat in confusion before realizing she had to work fast. "Please Naruto! I need you to tell me what he was expelled for. I know you know. Please!" she begged. She stood up and grabbed his arm. "Look, I tried asking someone else but they told me to come to you. Naruto, I know what he did was bad, but I promise I won't think differently of him, or anyone that was involved,"

"You can't promise that!" Naruto snapped. "We put all that in the past, and we each swore not to bring it up again, for Gaara's sake."

And there it was. A side of Naruto that Sakura had never seen before. There he stood, much taller and larger than she had ever realized. He wasn't smiling. His eyes stared at her. They were hard, intense, and unblinking. He was protecting his friend, and there was nothing she could do to sway him.

Sakura sighed and let her arm fall limply away back to her own side. Her mind searched for something to say, but came up with nothing. She let her shoulders droop in defeat, and turned her gaze away in shame. Naruto hated seeing Sakura that way, something usually so strong and cheerful suddenly fallen like a wilted flower in the peak of spring. It was just something you didn't see, much less want to see.

"Sakura, who told you to come to me?" Naruto asked. Sakura wondered if saying Hinata and Neji's names would be like betraying them, since Naruto had said everyone had sworn to leave the truth behind them. However on the other hand, perhaps if he knew Hinata had told Sakura to come to him, he might see it as an act of trust in a way. She decided it too risky.

"When I talked with Tsunade-shishou, she mentioned something. No one told me, I-I came to you on my own." She lied.

"Tsunade-baabaa-chan? Heh! That old bat; seems like something she would do." Some of the usual Naruto began to show through the severe. "But why did you come to me?" he asked. "Why not to Temari or Kankuro?"

"You're Gaara's best friend," was Sakura's convincing finish. Now that hit a soft spot in Naruto. He tried to look at anywhere but Sakura, but failed.

After a few moments of silence, the returning footsteps of Neji from one direction, Hinata from another, were heard coming down the hall. Very quickly and quietly Naruto said, "I can't tell you here…but…" he thought rapidly. "meet me at school tomorrow, super early. Before even Gaara, Temari, and Kankuro. Got it?"

Sakura nodded hurriedly before adding, "You promise you'll show?" Who knew? Was Naruto even capable of waking up that early?

Naruto sighed and said, "Yeh I'll be there. I never go back on a promise."

And with that confirmation they regained their positions in the room just in time for Neji's arrival with the copy and Hinata's with the tea.

--

Sorry, it's so short. i didn't originally place chapters diliberately throughout the story when i wrote it, so it's difficult finding cut-off places. anyways, i hope y'all liked it, and i really am going to try and finish up the story as soon as i can. Thanks again to all my dedicated reviewers!

Hope everyone's enjoying their summers-

Olly BaaBaa-Chan


	19. Chapter 19

Hello, all!

Yes, yes, I've returned with another chapter. I'm suprised at how many of you have actually kept up with the story; I know it's been a long time. Thanks to everyone who maintained patience. I salute you.

-Salutes-

Anyways, the plot is FINALLY becoming sticky, as all plots do. I'm warning all of you now, its going to take a dramatic (though slightly forseeable, if I do say so myself) turn now, so prepare yourselves. Turn on your favorite song, grab a bowl of ramen, and get ready.

Enjoy!

-Olly BaaBaa-Chan

--

Disclaimer: Calm the lawyers down, I don't own Naruto.

--

Sakura's eyes slid open to a still dark morning. Even her parents were still asleep. She took a cold shower in hoping it would wake her up a little more. After all the trouble she gone through to get the truth about Gaara, she was finally going to know it today. This put her in a slightly better mood and she chose to wear red and grey instead of black to show her improved disposition. Sakura walked out the door at 6:30, taking her breakfast with her and leaving a note explaining to her parents where she was and that she wouldn't be alone. They probably still wouldn't like the idea, but she was already looking for little windows of freedom from her restrictions.

When she reached the school, the parking lot was predominantly empty. Not even the teachers were there yet. Much to Sakura's surprise, Naruto's car was already parked. Even though he had promised to meet her, she was still a little in shock at his promptness. She saw him waiting for her at the group tree, looking somber and tired.

"Good morning," Sakura said. Naruto grinned.

"Didn't think I'd be here did'ja?" he asked quite knowingly.

"Honestly, no, but I know you always keep your promise." She sat down on the cool ground. "Now please, Naruto, tell me."

Naruto swallowed slowly and then took a seat beside her. He thought for a long time, choosing his words carefully. "You like Gaara, don't you?" he asked.

"yes," she replied. "very much so. I think I…well it's probably rushing to say that I love him…but Yeh…I think."

Naruto seemed a little shocked by this confession but nodded understandingly and continued. "Well, so you've seen the better side of him. He's a good friend. A loyal friend. And I think he likes you too. A lot."

Sakura blushed but decided against telling him she already knew that. She waited politely for him to continue.

"But you remember what happened on Monday, when he attacked Sasuke?" Naruto maintained. "How he attacked him with that knife?"

Sakura recalled, somewhat bitterly. "Yes," she said. "I remember."

"Well don't." Naruto retorted, confusing her. "Never think of that Gaara. The Gaara we know and care about is not that one. When I tell you what happened back then you have to swear that you won't think of the Gaara you…_love_…differently, do you get it?"

Sakura nodded slowly, trying to wrap her mind around what he was saying.

"You know Gaara's almost a year older than most of us right?" Naruto asked. Sakura shook her head no. She hadn't known that. "Well anyway," he continued. "He's supposed to be a grade ahead of us and—"

"Well wait, Sakura interrupted, "How can he be a grade higher than us if his brother and sister are in that grade? I thought they were older than him?"

"Well yeh," Naruto continued. "But Temari started school really late and Kankuro failed a grade I think. But moving on. Gaara's in our grade because he missed a whole year of school."

"Why?"

"Suspension. He actually should have gotten longer than a year. Gaara was really lucky."  
"What was he suspended for?" Sakura asked fearfully.

"He killed a kid."

A cold sensation hit Sakura like a wave at the beach and crept down her spine and into her feet. Gaara? Her Gaara? Actually killed someone?

"Was it an accident?" she asked dryly. Naruto shuffled around in his seat uncomfortably and answered, "Well, not really."

"So he purposely _killed_ an innocent other and only got _a year of suspension from school _for it? That's impossible, I know the law; my dad's a lawyer—"

Naruto interrupted her. "Sakura stop! You swore you wouldn't do this!"

"Do what? All I'm saying is that it's highly unlikely that he would only get a year of suspension for killing someone. Homicide is a very serious issue."

"I know," Naruto agreed. "Like I said before, Gaara was really, really lucky. Now are you going to listen or not?" Sakura nodded obediently, prompting Naruto to carry on. "Now, listen, the kid Gaara killed was this guy called Kimimaru."

Kimimaru…not a bad name, she supposed. Someone so innocent that she had never known. His life had been taken from him, by Gaara. The thought twisted in her mind like an angry snake. "Why did Gaara kill him?"

"To save me, I guess."

"Save you?" she asked. Suddenly Kimimaru didn't seem quite so innocent. "Why?"

"Kimimaru was…sick. Mentally and physically. They said he wouldn't last more than a year, but his parents sent him to school anyway. I guess they wanted him to live a _normal_ life, rather than on hospice. Don't get me wrong though, he wasn't a nice guy to begin with. It was our freshman year and he hanged out with—"

"Hung out with." Sakura corrected him.

Naruto rolled his eyes and continued. "Pay attention! He _hung out_ with this creep named Orochimaru. Tall, pale, pretty sure he was a convict. Anyway, he and Kimimaru were sorta buddies, but Kimimaru kept getting sicker and sicker. He'd cause havoc all over the school. Destroy classrooms, harass teachers, stuff like that. Well anyway, there was this one day that he was having a really bad day. Normally he was weak and nearly immobile, but today he was walking and kicking and causing all kinds of trouble. Now, the weekend before this I had broken my arm at the zoo and—"

"The zoo?" Sakura giggled, completely forgetting about the rest of the story.

"Shut up! There was a giant toad that jumped up outta nowhere and scared me and I fell down some stairs. Now do you want to know the rest or not?" Naruto demanded. Sakura immediately became quiet. Did she want to know the rest? Naruto waited for her to apologize and then continued once again. "Ok, stop interrupting. I had broken my arm and it was in a cast and sling the day Kimimaru started acting up. He attacked me…"

Coldness returned to Sakura's body. She leaned in, keen to find out what happened.

"I couldn't defend myself." Naruto said quietly. "I mean, I tried to, but without one of my arms it was useless. None of the teachers could pull him off, and he just kept hitting me. I blacked out."

"No…" Sakura whispered.

The memory was causing Naruto a lot of inner turmoil. He was clutching the back of head and he refused to look her in the eye. "I wasn't conscience for the next part," he explained. "But other people told me what happened. Apparently Gaara jumped out of nowhere and started cutting up Kimimaru with his knife. Kimimaru stopped beating up on me, but by then everyone was focused on getting Gaara off _him_ instead of him off _me_. They did eventually, but it was too late. I woke up with blood all over me and bruises on every inch of my body. Kimimaru died that night. They took Gaara to court. The judge went kind of easy on him for a number of reasons, the fact that I had been beaten senseless, the fact that Kimimaru had been on death road anyways, and other stuff like that. Gaara was too young to go to prison, so in the end Kimimaru's parents decided not to press charges. He was sent to a year in juvi; came back halfway through my sophomore year. I still don't know all the details, but that's it in a nutshell."

Sakura sat in silence for a long while. So Gaara only killed Kimimaru to save Naruto. Okay. Maybe it wasn't…_so_ bad, right? "What happened when he came back?"

"I went looking for him. I dunno why. Guess to thank him…the asshole."

A comical look of confusion crossed Sakura's face. "What?"

Naruto shrugged and smirked. "Asshole. Soon as I found him he tried to attack me, course my arm was better by then. I was able to kick his knife away from him, and then I punched some sense into his fat head."

The lightness of Naruto's tone actually made Sakura smile. "So you beat him up? Yeah, sure Naruto."

"Hey!" Naruto whined. "It's true. To be entirely honest it was mostly an even match, but I was finally able to make him respect me. That's how we became friends, by beating the shit out of each other. Go figure…hey, Ten Ten!"

Sakura looked into the distance to see Ten Ten walking towards them along with many others arriving to start the day. "Hey!" she called. "What are you guys doing here so early?"

"Just thought I'd shake things up a little!" Naruto said with a grin. Sakura was amazed at how quickly he was able to turn back into his normal, obnoxious self. It made her smile.

"Yeah right. Hiya Sakura." Ten Ten greeted. Sakura pulled herself into the tree and offered, "Good morning!" in return. Soon after the others started showing up, ending with the almost late arrival of a rushed Temari, a sleepy Kankuro, and an angry Gaara. Apparently, the transportation arrangements were not going over well between the siblings. The day went on.

--

Phew!

Alright, praise me, scold me, block me, do whatever you want, but that's the turn the story has taken, as many, if not most, GaaxSaku stories do.

Happy Fall Y'all! (teehee, I rhymed)

-Olly BaaBaa-Chan


	20. Chapter 20

Well hello, everyone.

Umm… this is awkward.

I… have not finished TTWM yet. No. I haven't. I know it's already been for-freaking-ever since I posted the last chapter, and I know each time I say: "I'm going to try and finish it. Really! I am!"

But I still haven't.

But I want you all to understand: I haven't actually read FF in a LONG time. I'm almost willing to say about a year or more. I've only continued this story because all my reviewers have asked me to. For me, the FF fad went pretty quickly. Actually, Naruto itself kinda died out for me pretty fast. I got tired of figuring out all the plot twists on my own and waiting every week for the next chapter. Maybe when the series is completely done, I'll pick back up on it, but for right now, it's become a little too tiresome for my taste. I also disliked the idea of putting Team 7 and friends in a high school setting. At first I didn't, I almost preferred it to stories set in Konoha and the actual world of Naruto, but I realize it just didn't fit. I didn't like the characteristics I gave to the characters in my story. They weren't MY characters, and no one fully understands a character unless they actually created them. I could never fully illustrate Gaara's sadness and anger or Sakura's loneliness and lowered self-esteem. That goes for all the characters.

It was just… too out of place for me.

Now look: I do have some more on TTWM, potential chapters I told myself I wasn't going to post until I'd finished it, but as it stands, I don't know if I will.

I'm sorry to be one of those terribly annoying 'Discontinuers', but if y'all want what's left of the story, I'll post it. Maybe I will actually finish it later. Who knows?

Please don't flame.

Apologetically,

Olly BaaBaa-Chan


	21. Chapter 21

Disclaimer: "Naruto"- Don't own it or any of the characters.

So...

Well...

Hope you like it.

-----------------------------

Gaara was still avoiding Sakura, but now she had so much to think about she hardly noticed. She could no longer focus on her school work. This wouldn't go over well with her parents if they found out. Sakura couldn't let this screw with her life right now. Everything was so fragile. She was walking on eggshells. If there was anything that could be done to solve her problems quickly, it would be to talk with Gaara directly. At least, that's what she hoped anyways…

_And how would I accomplish that? _She wondered. _After school I go straight to Hinata and Neji's and then right after that I go home and I'm not allowed to leave unless it's for school the next morning._ Her mood wasn't lifted when Kakashi-sensei walked by and handed her a quiz with a 35 on it and a note requesting to see her after class. She showed the note to Hinata who nodded sympathetically and wrote back: _No worries, I'll tell the others._

As soon as the bell rang Sakura waited behind. Gaara looked back curiously and almost waited for her. Her heart soared with admiration, thinking maybe he had finally decided to not avoid her and openly speak with her again!

…until Kakashi shooed him out the door. The fates were just against her recently.

"So, Sakura," Kakashi began.

"Yes?" she asked.

"Your mom called me the other day."

"Really?"

"Yes. It was nice to hear from an old friend."

"Oh…that's good. Did you talk to my dad too?"

"Briefly…same old jerk as always, no offense."

Sakura giggled, glad to have something said to lighten her mood. "None taken." She replied.

"Good. Now, normally I wouldn't care about a brat's grades, but you're a friend's kid so I thought I'd step in. Do you mind?"

Sakura looked guiltily at her grade and shook her head 'no'. "Good," Kakashi continued. "Now are you going to tell me why your grades are going downhill or are you going to make me play twenty questions?" His eye crinkled with a smile. Sakura was pretty sure that he could guess anyway, but she decided to tell him (and herself) the truth.

"No games," she promised. "I understand everything that you've been teaching, but I can't focus because of Gaara." she explained.

Kakashi, curious as to why she had decided to come out and openly say that so quickly, leaned back in his chair and put his feet up on his desk leisurely. "He your boyfriend?"

Sakura didn't miss the bored and uninterested tone in his voice. "Yes…well I think so anyway. We've been having a little trouble since…" she trailed off at the part about the attack. "He's been avoiding me, and I know why, but I don't know how to fix it."

"You teenagers and your high school drama." Kakashi replied boredly. Sakura was torn: half of her wanted to agree with him, that all this commotion was a stupid side effect of hormones and intruded secrets but the other half of her wanted to scream at him, because he didn't understand! Because he had never felt the way she felt now! He had never been in her situation!

But instead of screaming and crying and slapping him in the face, Sakura swallowed her inner thoughts and countered with the less defensive and the more undecided, "Heh, yeah."

Her sensei smiled and leaned back even further, resting the back of his head on his own makeshift pillow of intertwined fingers. Sakura worried somewhat that if he became anymore relaxed he would fall backwards out of his chair with his legs waving confusedly in the air. The thought coaxed a small grin onto her face.

"Don't let all this get to your head or else I'll fail you for the semester." He warned after leaning forward once more to write her a pass to her next class.

"That's really encouraging, sensei." Sakura answered with only just a _hint_ of sarcasm. She took the pass.

"And for your cheek you'll have detention tomorrow afternoon." He said with a grin.

Sakura stared at him as though he had suddenly turned into a gorilla and was asking her quite calmly for a banana and a copy of the first volume of the Encyclopedia Britannica.

"Cheek? What Cheek? Detention? Sensei I didn't do anything!" she stammered. He only shook his head.

"If you argue I'll give you another one," he cautioned with a humorous look in his eye. He handed her another piece of paper, this one with the word 'DETENTION' labeled across the top of it. She groaned and stalked out the class and to her locker. How was this supposed to help her situation?

At lunch she sat with Gaara and everyone else, but they didn't talk much. Sakura, having never received a detention in her entire school career, was fuming with irritation and thoughts of ways to piss off a certain teacher.

At dinner that night she had to explain why she couldn't go to the Hyuuga's house the next afternoon. Of course that went over well.

—Not.

"Sakura, _detention_?!" her father sputtered over his plate of lasagna and garlic bread. Sakura sighed and pushed her plate away, knowing that she wasn't going to have another chance to eat without some kind of interruption from the coming argument. Mr. Haruno groaned and rubbed his temples as though suffering from a migraine. "Why?" he continued. "You've never, _never_ gotten a detention before. You've always been a model student. What could you have possibly done to get a detention?"

The girl in question tucked a piece of colorful hair behind her ear and looked pointedly at the specks of flakey seasoning on her square of lasagna. "Well," she began, "I got a…um…_disappointing_ grade on a quiz and apparently gave my teacher, uh, _cheek_…"

Her father stopped rubbing his temples and looked up slowly with his face a blank façade. Fearing the hidden meaning in her dad's reaction, Sakura quickly jumped into defensive mode. "But," she pointed out, "that's what _he_ said. Personally I don't even recall being sarcastic. I don't even know what I said; it was just all of a sudden: you have detention." She acted out the last part with an impression of Kakashi-sensei, hands on his hips, sentencing her half-finished dinner plate to an afternoon of imprisonment.

An awkward silence followed with Sakura frowning grumpily at her plate while her dad maintained his blank pretense. Mrs. Haruno, attempting to break the tension, cleared her throat quietly and turned to her daughter. "What was this grade?" she asked. "The disappointing one?"

Sakura winced and whimpered, "Thirty-five."

Her dad finally cracked. "T-thirty-five?" he blubbered hopelessly. "As in—out of a hundred?" He looked away and let his hands fall back to the table. A conclusion flew to him before he could say anything else and he turned back to Sakura, finger pointed and eyes squinted accusingly. "It's that boy, isn't it?" he muttered.

Sakura's eyes narrowed. "Gaara saved my life." she reminded him coldly.

There was a sharp intake of breath from Sakura's mother and Mr. Haruno let his finger drop uselessly. His eyes, however, remained just the tiniest bit tauntingly accusing. "That doesn't mean he isn't a bad influence." he countered.

Sakura groaned exasperatedly and shoved away from the table, taking her plate with her towards the kitchen. The family had only been able to enjoy evening mealtimes together recently, thanks to the arrangements with the Hyuuga's, yet it seemed almost every night her father would slip something cutting about Gaara into the conversation. Normally she let it slide, but tonight it was just too much. She dumped her leftovers back into oven dish it was cooked in and let her plate clatter into the sink. She swept past her parents towards the stairs, calling over her shoulder: "I'll go to detention tomorrow. It's not that big a deal, really. I shouldn't be leaving later than six at the latest and if you guys aren't home I'll go to Hinata and Neji's until you call. Right now I'm going to bed. Love you. Goodnight." By the time she had finished she was already at the top of the stairs and striding towards her room. Sakura closed her bedroom door behind her with the very defiant scoff of: "ugh, parents!"

Meanwhile, just as Sakura was arguing with her parental units, Gaara was picking absent-mindedly at his guitar. He plucked the notes for his song; the one Sakura had liked so much. He remembered her voice when she sang. Ah, he missed that voice. He missed that carefree, bell-like tinkle of her laugh. He missed the pink that flooded her cheeks when he kissed her, the light that shimmered within her eyes, and that warm feeling that filled him whenever she was near. Plain and simple, Gaara missed Sakura.

Again with the damn poetics!

He ran a hand through his crimson hair and sighed. He knew he'd been avoiding her, avoiding the questions she would ask. _You're only making it worse by waiting_ he told himself. _Just tell her the truth._

_**If she knew the truth she'd push me away.**_

_But if I keep avoiding her she'll go away anyways. Besides, if she really cares for me it won't matter._

_**But who could ever 'care' for someone who's killed another person? She'll be afraid of me.**_

_My other friends have learned to deal with it. They don't hate me…I think…_

_**Of course they don't hate me, but Sakura's more than just a friend…**_

_Be it more or less, a friend is still a friend. Wouldn't I still care for her even if we weren't always frenching each other's brains out?_

Gaara chuckled and then sighed. "Argh, I don't need to be thinking about this right now." He growled at himself and glanced around his room, looking for a distraction. His eyes locked an old sketchpad. Hell, he hadn't drawn in forever. No better time than the present, right? The young man put his guitar aside and slid off his bed to grab the pad. In one quick movement he was once again lounging on his bed, the pad in front of him, charcoal pencils in hand. Gaara flipped through the pages, looking for a blank one. His emerald orbs were just wandering over old pictures he'd forgotten about, when a familiar sketch flopped out and stared at him.

Shock seeped through his fingertips as he gingerly held the drawing. Very quickly he slid it back into the pad and tossed the whole thing to the floor. Gaara chuckled in spite of himself and rubbed his eyes. It was the long forgotten picture he had drawn of Sakura all those weeks ago. How did she do that?! It was like no matter what he did, he ended up thinking about her again and again. Gaara vaguely contemplated looking at some clouds to find out if he would see her figure in them and prove his hypothesis correct. After thirty seconds of this thought he finally disregarded the idea as a stupid one.

Then he glanced out the window.

Nope, no Sakura. But the sunset (which had just begun moments ago) _was_ pink, the original color of her hair. And that tree was _almost_ the color of her eyes…

Defeated, Gaara slumped down back on his bed and pouted. A long ignored teddy bear looked down at him from a shelf. _Well? _It seemed to ask. _Wouldn't you?_ _Wouldn't you still care for her even if she was __**just a friend**__?_

Gaara glared guiltily at the bear. It was true. Even if Sakura hadn't fallen for him as well, he would still care about and feel protective of her. Perhaps in a less noticeable way, sure, but the feelings would definitely be there. She was, after all, the only girl he'd ever met gutsy enough to defy him, the only girl he'd ever opened up to. He suddenly wished she was there with him, so he could tell her all this. And then she would accept him, and she would still care for him too. And they'd be able to put all this in the past, where it belonged.

_**Right, I need to tell her.**_

The young man stood up abruptly and grabbed his leather jacket.

_Well, ok, but I didn't mean right this second…_the bear murmured.

Gaara ignored that last inner comment and strode briskly down the stairs and across the kitchen. "Where you goin?" Kankuro called uninterestedly from the next room.

"Out." The younger brother answered.

Temari very unexpectedly blocked his way through the door. "What do you mean _out_?" she demanded, waving a wooden spoon accusingly in his face.

Gaara rolled his eyes and stole the spoon. "I mean," he answered, "I'm going out." He quite easily shoved his older sister to the side, walked past her, tossed her back her spoon, and called over his shoulder, "I won't be long."

Temari, now annoyed and pondering revenge, gasped when she saw her little brother mounting his motorcycle. "Gaara!" she cried over the roar, "You can't ride your bike. The doctors said it's not safe for you yet!"

Gaara waved at her, revved, and was gone in a matter of seconds. Temari groaned and planted her hands on her hips. "Teh. That idiot."

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R&R Please.

-Olly BaaBaaChan


	22. Chapter 22

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. Wouldn't want to, honestly, but that's just my opinion.

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Alright, guys. Ready to hear it one more time???

I'm trying to finish it.

I mean it this time. I hope, anyways. I've already gotten through A LOT to finish it up. I've even made it up to what some may consider the 'last' chapter. Course, you know me, I don't deliberately set chapters anywhere, so tough cookies.

Anyways, just wanted to letcha know.

-Olly

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Gaara made sure to park his bike a good ways away, so as not to alert Sakura's parents. He crossed through the wooded area around her house until he made it to the back. He could see her window.

But of course, Gaara was so determined in his mission that he forgot one minor problem: Sakura's room was on the second floor…and he was on the ground…and he had no obvious means of getting to her window…

The thought of throwing pebbles at the window to get her attention flitted through his mind briefly, but he shook it out immediately. Doing that kind of thing would ruin his entire incognito Secret Agent Man moment.

But oh! By a twist of fate, there was a wall of lattice by which to climb up!

Gaara eyed the lattice suspiciously. Who was to say that it would hold his weight like it did in the movies? What if he fell? Her parents would find out…and Sakura would flip out…and he'd probably have to go back to the hospital, a situation at which he would go by any means to avoid.

Another glance at the window to her room put new determination back his bones, and Gaara slowly edged toward the house, praying that they didn't have yet another weird security system around their yard to catch him. To his surprise he made it to the wall safely, hunching low below windows so no person might see him. Now the lattice was his only obstacle. It eyed him ominously, laughing at him, taunting him. Daring Gaara to even _try_.

The red-haired boy grabbed the wood and shook it experimentally, but quietly. It _seemed_ sturdy. Gaara could only hope that his judgment would be accurate. He took a breath and began to climb.

He took it slow, managing only a few inches at a time. No way in hell was Gaara going to rush something that might render him hospitalized. The window. It was so _close_…

From inside the room, four fingers were visible just below the windowsill, and then a hand. Then Gaara poked his head up, glancing around the room cautiously before pulling upward a little more. From this view, the young man looked quite composed and ready for an intellectual conversation.

From the outside, he must've looked pretty damn stupid dangling like a strange black animal beneath Sakura's window.

Unfortunately, the center of Gaara's entire mission was already asleep. Sakura snuggled against her pillow. Gaara's eyes squinted in annoyance and he thought about knocking on the glass to wake her up. But she just looked so peaceful. Suddenly her phone went off, ringing that familiar tune that Gaara couldn't quite recognize. Out of nowhere, he realized it was the same melody he'd been strumming on his guitar not that long ago. She must've recorded it on her phone that day they had practice…

Gaara squinted at the still ringing phone. Through the window and the darkness he was able see the caller ID. It started with a T…probably Temari looking for him. The noise was beginning to bother Sakura. She was turning her head in sleepy awakening. Finally the tune stopped but then started up again. This time Sakura was reaching coherency. She started mumbling short, muffled phrases proclaiming her hate for "that stupid phone". All of a sudden, Gaara feared for her to wake up. What would she think about him hanging outside her bedroom window? Romantic? Disturbing?

_What was I thinking?_ Gaara growled to himself. _What kind of stupid idea was this?_ He started to carefully climb back down so she wouldn't see him out her window. He could still hear vaguely the sound of the phone stopping and then Sakura's voice echoing softly through the window: "Temari?...No, he's not here…He did what?...What do you mean, 'don't worry'?...Well give me a call when comes home…Ok, bye."

Then there was silence. Gaara thought about her voice when she was on the phone. She sounded worried, so… _Maybe she does still care. I knew it._ Feeling just the tiniest bit better about himself, he climbed down slowly and quietly made his way back to his bike.

When he stalked back through the door of his own house Temari was waiting for him, accusations and wooden spoon in hand. He only regarded her with an amused scoff and tugged playfully at one of her pigtails. "I'm still alive aren't I? Calm down."

His older sister scowled disapprovingly as he raided the fridge for the orange juice. "Well then where were you?" she demanded while he poured a glass.

"Nowhere. Just wanted to go for a ride."

"You liar! I know you went somewhere." Temari countered. "Did you go to Sakura's?"

Surprised that his sister would reach that conclusion so quickly, Gaara tried to remain composed. "Why would I go to Sakura's?" he asked uninterestedly.

"Oh, like it's not blatantly obvious that you like her." Temari said sarcastically.

Wanting to end this conversation quickly, Gaara put the carton of orange juice back and the fridge and turned mockingly to his sister. "Yeah I went Sakura's. She pulled me in and we fucked like mad."

Kankuro, who had just entered the conversation, seemed utterly confused. Temari was stunned. Gaara took advantage of his sister's momentary shock to slip past her and grab a couple oatmeal cookies that were residing on a plate behind her. Temari didn't realize what had happened until Gaara was at the foot of the stairs and heading up to his room. Anger and embarrassment flushed across her face. "You sick little…"

"If you want I can give you all the horny details sometime." Gaara called back. He ducked just in time to avoid the spoon that was soaring through the air towards his head. It connected with the wall with an empty 'tack'. Gaara chuckled all the way up the stairs. He had only walked a few feet into his room when Kankuro appeared at the door.

"You mean you really…?"

Gaara threw the nearest thing he could reach (which was a shoe) at the door. "Get out," he demanded. Kankuro, still confused, retreated. Gaara sighed and laughed lightly in spite of himself.

A wise man once said, "We are all fools in Love."

Then again, not many people would refer to Gai-Sensei and his youthful adoration sermons as wisdom…

Gaara sprawled out on his bed, chewed on a cookie, and sighed. He missed her again. This was becoming unhealthy. His mind wandered back into her room, where she lay, untroubled, asleep on her bad. A soft smile tugged at the corners of Gaara's mouth. She had looked to peaceful while she slept, not burdened by the world, content to dwell happily in her dreams. Was it possible that he was perhaps part of those dreams? The thought pleased him. However, he was jealous of that peace. He could never achieve it. At least most of the time, if he was awake, he was able to keep his mind together; but there was just _something_ about sleeping that he just didn't understand. Something about the serenity of sleep eluded him. Even when he used to watch Temari or Kankuro sleep, he could never comprehend it. Sometimes, if he tried, he could relax his body nearly to the point of sleep, but he was always still awake, still aware.

He wondered what would happen if he slept. What would he dream? Would he dream about Sakura? That prospect surprised him nearly to the point of excitement. Dream about Sakura? Well he thought about her practically all the time…it only made sense that his dreams would be filled with her essence too. Experimentally, he got up, fetched the bottle of Nyquil that rested in the bathroom, and brought it back to his room. After three quick gulps that nearly made him sick, he lay back down on his bed and waited for the sleep to come. Once the drug had entered his system, the dregs of sleep started pulling at his conscious._ Ok, Sakura, here I come._

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_

Yay!

Can you guess what happens next?

Go on, I'm curious. Review if you think you know what's coming. I'll publish a shout out to anyone that gets it right. It's pretty easy to figure it out, I think.

R&R

-Olly BaaBaa-Chan


	23. Chapter 23

Disclaimer: Don't own Naruto in any way, shape, or form.

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Alright, alright, alright.

I updated.

Sheesh.

Only joking. Much Love!

-Olly

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"_Kimimaru stop!" a teacher yelled. "Somebody call the police. This boy's unconscious!"_

_Gaara watched from the back of the room as the skinny sick kid continued beating the blonde boy. Gaara hated that blonde kid. He was always loud and stupid…but the sick kid…with his dingy, greasy white hair. Sure, Gaara had something against Naruto, but what did Mr. Under the Weather have against him? Most of the time Sicky was incoherent anyways. What gave him the right to beat up on Blondie? That wasn't his place. It made something deep inside Gaara stir. He wanted to hurt the sick kid. Teach him his lesson._

_Naruto was already out cold, bloody, and bruised. Gaara looked at the red enviously. That was Gaara's blood. That sick kid had no right to draw that blood before he did. _

"_Please! Someone call for help! Kimimaru, stop!" another person called._

_All this trouble over one idiot person. Gaara wanted to end it. This kid didn't deserve to live anymore. A haziness dropped over Gaara's mind. He drew his knife. Stupid kid, getting on his nerves. He laughed and let it go where it wanted to._

_**Ha! Stupid idiot.**_

_**Now see what happens?!**_

_**This is all your fault!**_

_**And now you're…**_

_**Dead…**_

_**.**_

_**.**_

_**.  
**_

"Gaara? Gaara! Gaara get up! Get UP!"

_Shut up…_ Something was tugging at his shoulder.

"Gaara please, please get up!"

He tried to push it away, be he felt like he was in water. He couldn't move. He was suffocating.

A new voice: "Gaara! Get up man, c'mon!"

Kankuro?

"Gaara, please, you're scaring us. Please, please get up!"

Temari?

A loud groan erupted from the back of Gaara's throat. He rolled over and weakly tried to sit up. He was shaking, and cold, and his clothes were clinging to his skin. Reflexively, he tried to swing one leg out of the bed, but he couldn't support his own weight. His body toppled to the floor. Temari gasped and helped him sit back up. She leaned down next to him.

"Gaara?"

His hand shot up so fast and hit her so forcefully that she, too, fell the ground. She gasped in pain and surprise. Kankuro knelt down next to his sister. "What the hell?" he demanded.

"Get the…the fuck away from me…" Gaara's words were slurred, and he couldn't see straight. His stomach was burning so badly that it was painful to move, and his head swam. This man was no longer Gaara. This man wouldn't, or couldn't, recognize who or where he was. He was functioning purely on instinct, like a trapped animal. He had to get out of this place. When he tried to stand up and walk, he barely made it out the door before her shuddered violently and wretched all the contents of his stomach into the hallway. He coughed and sputtered as the acid drew tears.

Finally, Subaku no Gaara fell unconscious, and made not another movement.

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*buzzer sound*

I'm sorry. There were no correct answers to the question asked.

I apologize to anyone who was hoping for a wet dream, or a dream about Sakura in general. That was my original plan, but the plot changed and I went with this.

A shout out, however, does go to **animal cracker assassinator** and **Hamano Ayumu** for guessing Gaara's overdose, though it's not as severe as I assume you were thinking.

Alright, there ya go. Another chapter. With a cliff hanger.

Yay!

-Olly BaaBaa-Chan


	24. Chapter 24

Disclaimer: Don't own Naruto.

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Oh c'mon, you don't think I would leave y'all with such a cliff hanger like that, do you? I'm not _that _cruel.

Ok, maybe I am.

Speaking of which, I'm prolly gonna lose my net again. And I don't know how long for. Money's tight, and I simply don't have the resources to cart the story around and upload on other computers.

So please don't flame me. I'll try to get up some more chapters before I'm gone, k?

-Olly BaaBaa-Chan

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Sakura pulled her car lazily into a parking space, not caring that her parking job was slightly off and her tires at an awkward angle. She took a quick glance in her rearview before stepping out. Already, the dyed parts of her hair were beginning to fade. Perfect. Nothing was going right this morning. After Temari had called her the night before, she'd been worried about Gaara, getting on his bike out of nowhere and riding out into the night without even a hint of where he'd gone. Temari had thought Gaara would've gone to her house, but as far as Sakura herself knew, he hadn't. And she was still upset with him. From what she _had_ seen of the stupid man, he still wasn't talking with her.

Needless to say, this all served for a very difficult night's sleep, leaving Sakura grumpy and tired.

Actually, there was at least one thing to brighten her day. Akamaru had been released from the Animal Hospital, as Kiba explained to them that morning. The vets had been worried about possible internal bleeding, but in the end it proved to be a false alarm. Kiba's puppy pal was going to be alright.

Of course, the Subaku siblings weren't present for this announcement. All three of them were missing from the tree. Sakura subconsciously glanced around for a glimpse of red hair through the sea of students, but her search came up empty. The only thing that did catch her eye was a pair of onyx ones watching her from across the grounds. She didn't keep eye contact with Sasuke, though; it gave her chills. The slash on his cheek had scabbed over neatly, but she was almost certain it would scar. Suddenly, it was as though that mark finally shattered Sasuke's illusion of perfection. Perhaps now, if people could see that scar, they could see the evil in his soul, too.

Hinata had already told her father that Sakura was staying after for detention, and it had also been confirmed with her parents. Sakura wondered if her friends were suddenly going to be recruited as body guards while she sat and read some lame book in Kakashi's classroom. As it turned out, they had no such plans, but she _was_ expected to call as soon as she left and also the second reached the Hyuuga household. Sakura nodded exhaustedly to these terms as the bell rang. The group advanced inside with the rest of the herd and parted ways to class.

Kakashi's classroom was quiet that morning. He'd given up trying to watch Sakura and her friends, especially now that Gaara was absent. He lounged at his desk and pulled out his orange book, while the rest of the class worked on a reading assignment. All was dull and routine.

"Well, what an honor, ladies and gentlemen," Kakashi mused. Everyone's heads snapped up to look at what their sensei might be referring to. He gave a curt nod toward the door. "It seems Gaara has decided to grace us with his presence."

Sakura felt light headed as she turned to glance at the doorway. Sure enough, Gaara was standing there outside the door. Another student stood up to open the door and let him in. He trudged slowly into the room and took his usual seat. Sakura took advantage of the moment to take in the young man's appearance. Gaara looked sick. His clothes looked dirty and disheveled, and it didn't look like he had shaved in a while. His skin was paler and his eyes darker than usual. He shouldn't have been at school right then. He should've been at home resting, with a bowl of chicken noodle soup or something.

Gaara said nothing. His head was killing him. Why had he even come to school, anyway? Through his peripheral vision, he got a glimpse of worried sea-green eyes watching his every move. He didn't like worrying Sakura, but at the moment there were sharp pains splitting through his skull, and they were, admittedly, a little distracting. Instead of opening his book, he simply tried to apply some pressure to his temples, hoping it might weaken his headache and help him remember the night before. The only thing that kept running through his head was that dream… that memory. And then he woke up on the living room couch.

And then there was Temari's bruise…

And Kankuro's worried glances.

Gaara knew he'd done something. He knew it was probably himself that had hurt his sister. Guilt flooded inside him, but… he couldn't remember it. Something else had overtaken him, and it obviously didn't register in his memory. He'd woken in the early hours of the morning with a migraine and extreme nausea. Temari had suggested he stay home for the day, but Gaara _wanted_ to come to school.

Yet, he couldn't really remember the reason for that either.

The bell rang for class change, sending another wave of pain through Gaara's head. The students filed out of the room, with only Sakura staying an extra few seconds to look back. Kakashi stood up slowly and walked over to where the crimson-haired man sat.

"Detention."

Gaara looked up in confusion, squinting his eyes in the light, at the slip of paper being held in front of his face. His gaze shifted to that of Kakashi. "Fuck you."

Kakashi chuckled and set the paper on Gaara's desk. "You were late to class today, Gaara, and now you're cursing in my classroom. Either take the detention today after school or you and I can perform a little waltz up to Tsunade's office right now."

Gaara weakly imagined he and Kakashi dancing down the hallway.

"Since when do you care if we're late to class?" Gaara growled. But Kakashi said no more. The younger of the two men growled and snatched the paper up angrily. 'Detention'. Fuck that. He couldn't be forced to sit in detention. He might even leave school early to go home and rest.

Gaara stopped. Go home? He would have to face his brother and sister again, and that wasn't exactly something he was bouncing off the walls in excitement to do. Maybe… _Maybe I can go to the detention to clear my head, _he thought. It was settled then. It was unlikely Kakashi would actually make him do anything anyways. He would probably sit there and read his book, giving Gaara the perfect opportunity to rest his cheek on the cool of the desktop marble and try to remember just what exactly had happened the night before.

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Alright. R&R por favor.

-Olly


	25. Chapter 25

Disclaimer: Don't own Naruto

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Alright, guys, here it is. The moment you've been waiting for. I promised another chapter before my net went out, so this is it. It's long and pretty full, and it's taken a damn long time to finally get here, so enjoy.

-Olly

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Sakura tried her best to focus on her class work. It served as a small distraction for her internal worry. When the final dismissal bell rang for the end of the school day, she didn't walk outside with the rest of her friends. She trekked slowly and deliberately to Kakashi's classroom. He wasn't even in there. No orange book, no assignments on the board, nothing. How typical.

Sakura sighed and took a seat. She would stay the time allotted, unless someone directly told her not to. It felt good to be alone, though there was a small part of her that felt fear trickling through her arms and legs. The last time she'd been close to alone was with Gaara… and that obviously hadn't ended well. He'd nearly gotten a concussion, and she'd nearly been… well, she didn't want to think about what Ino might've done.

And Gaara. She didn't know what to think about him anymore. He'd frightened her, yes, but that was no reason to avoid her. All he'd managed to do now was make her feel even worse.

"Sakura?"

Speak of the devil.

Sakura turned around quickly to see her friend…er…boyfriend…thing standing in the doorway. Part of her wanted to smile and cry and run over to hug him. The other part wanted to walk up and slap him. Instead of doing either, she froze. "Uh…hey."

"Why are you here?"

She was a little taken aback. "Detention," she answered plainly. "You?"

Gaara was surprised. Sakura? Detention? He must've missed something… "Detention," he answered back. "Where's Kakashi?"

"I don't know," the girl replied. "But I'm staying."

Gaara rolled his eyes. That was so like her, to stay for a punishment when the teacher wasn't even present. And now he _couldn't_ leave. There was no way he was going to leave Sakura here alone. That was just asking for trouble. He took the seat next to her, held his head in his hands, and winced while the seven dwarves took their pickaxes to the inner lining of his skull.

Sakura leaned back and studied him. There was so much more to him than she'd ever realized. Those hands that held her so tenderly… they'd killed someone… they'd taken a life out of this world.

The silence between them was deafening, and the air was thick. Sakura swallowed and tried to break the tension. She cleared her throat. "So… how… how've you been? You look…"

"Like shit?" Gaara finished for her. Sakura shrugged.

"I was going to say under-the-weather."

Gaara scoffed lightly and looked at her. She looked tired all over, and even smaller than before. The different colors of her hair were starting to fade, leaving only the pink, blonde, and black to be seen clearly. And she had rings around her eyes. _Heh_, he thought, _just like me._

Sakura watched him watching her. She tried to let all the hurt feelings contained inside her burn through her eyes, wondering if he would notice. But he was avoiding her eyes again. Sometimes, she found, words worked better.

She leaned back in her seat, took a gulp of preparation, and choked out, "You've been avoiding me."

Gaara was stunned, a deer caught in the headlights. His headache pounded harder as shock and guilt seeped in through the goose bumps on the back of his neck. He coughed and looked away. She was right… but he hadn't thought she'd either notice or take it so heavily. So now what was he supposed to answer with?

"Heh… Yeh."

Sakura started. "You… you're admitting it?"

"What else am I supposed to say?"

Sakura had actually been under the impression he would've denied it, but she didn't say that. Instead, she asked the question that had been burning in her mind for the longest time. _Why are you avoiding me? Why did you kill that boy? Why do you look so weak and sick? Why, why, why, why…_

"Why?"

Gaara looked into Sakura's eyes for the first time in weeks. But how could he possibly explain something like this to her without her turning his back on him? How could he possibly tell her the truth, that he'd killed someone? Who could possibly accept him after knowing something like that?

Who could possibly love a monster?

He opted for the one route that would serve as his last saving grace, or so he hoped. "You wouldn't understand."

Sakura clenched her fists so tightly she thought her own nails might draw blood. After all he and she had been through, here he sat, lying to her. Avoiding her once again. "God, you're so… you're such an idiot sometimes." She muttered cracked words. Gaara looked up to see her eyes brimming with fresh tears and sighed guiltily.

"Sakura, please don't cry."

"I'm crying because I'm angry!" she snapped, unclenching her fists and slamming her palms on the desktop. "Why don't you trust me? I already know you have a bad past or whatever, but dammit, Gaara, I still care about you, ok?" She took some deep calming breaths and tried to get her mind back onto a rational level. Her attempts were futile, however, because he'd got her raving and now she couldn't slow down.

Gaara growled, stood up, and kicked one of the desks with as much force as he could muster. It clattered heavily to the floor, and sent even more waves of pain through his skull. He paced back and forth, trying to steady himself as well, before he slammed his hands on the desk Sakura was sitting at and brought his face within centimeters of hers. "Just how much do you think you know, then, hmm?" he growled. "That all of my so-called friends are actually afraid of me? That I was kicked out of school for a year because I _killed someone_? That I'm fucking sick in the head? Huh? Tell me!"

In the back of his mind he knew what he looked like. His heavy breaths made the little hairs around her face dance, and he was hunched over menacingly. Dark eyes, tensed muscles, bared teeth. Like an animal, a deadly animal.

But the only things that betrayed Sakura's physical fear were the relentless tears that silently dived down her cheeks. Had it not been for their constant flow, Gaara would've been easily fooled. Sakura's face was as stone, completely still, like a beautiful statue of a crying angel.

"If you think I'm going to just walk out of all this because of something that happened in your _past_, then you've got me all wrong. The you that I know and care about is still there, the Gaara that you are now, and I still care about him, but if you'd rather have me away from you from now on, say so. I won't leave your side unless you tell me to and mean it." She whispered.

Gaara stood there for what seemed like hours, watching, searching for any kind of deceit. They both stayed perfectly still, until the tear streaks on Sakura's face dried up and faded, until Gaara's shoulders started cramping from all the force he was emitting. Obviously he didn't _want_ Sakura to leave him, but he was afraid she would on her own account. Or, at least, it wouldn't be the same.

"You don't know what you're saying." He concluded. His eyes never left hers.

"Don't I?" she choked. "I mean what I say, Gaara. And you're the only one hesitant to believe me."

"Hesitant to believe?" he echoed. "Is that what you think it is? Hesitance?"

"What else could it be?" she asked. "If it isn't that, then I can only reach one other conclusion. You've finally found someone who's not afraid of you and you're too proud to admit it confuses you."

Gaara laughed a hard, fake laugh. "And you think you're that someone?" he ground out. "You're saying I don't scare you."

"You scare me at times, but I'm not afraid of you."

"That makes no sense."

"That's because you won't face the fact."

"Face the fact…" he echoed. "Face the fact that you care about me even though I'm a monster. I'm a _murderer_, Sakura," he jabbed a hard finger into his own chest, "I'm a danger to everyone around me, including you."

His words were broken and sad. Sakura swallowed thickly and stood up slowly from the desk. Standing straight, on equal ground, she stared through him and spoke to his soul. "I still love you," she said evenly. "I know your past, but I also know there's good in you. The good and the bad will battle sometimes, or maybe they'll never stop fighting to win you over, but I know what I want and I've made my decision. It's your turn now."

Gaara's heart skipped a beat. Two beats. Three. He finally relinquished a breath he'd been unexpectantly holding and shakily tried to realign his breathing pattern. Sakura still loved him, even though she knew the truth. This was everything Gaara had hoped for, prayed for. There was no way in heaven, earth, or hell that he could ever deserve such love, deserve this beautiful, wonderful girl, but somehow he'd gotten her. She'd made her choice. She wouldn't leave him, unless… unless he told her to. All he wanted for Sakura was for her to be happy and safe. She should have the ideal life of happiness: college, a good job, a caring and honest husband, kids… everything. A life with him would mean trouble for her: emotional roller coasters, mental breakdowns, hardships of every kind. She didn't deserve that, and yet she'd chosen him to be with her.

He blinked and said quietly, "I don't want to hurt you." He would, though. Undoubtedly, if she stayed with him. He didn't know how long the demon inside him could be suppressed. Sakura herself unlocked some of it's traits on her own, like lust and desire and possessiveness. And he hadn't felt the monster's rage for years until she'd arrived, until he'd realized he wanted her for his own, until he found out other men wanted her as well. What if those pent up feelings he tried to cage up within exploded on Sakura like they had on Sasuke? What if an innocent, casual hug between her and a male friend perverted itself into thoughts of adultery in his mind? What if his lust became so great that he couldn't refuse the beast, even if she screamed for him to stop?

These thoughts stampeded through Gaara's aching head. He couldn't look at her anymore. Something so beautiful should not be marred by his quandaries. If he truly loved this girl, he would have to protect her. He would have to say no.

But he couldn't do it. Gaara paced back and forth. He held his head in his hands. He kicked some more desks. All the while Sakura remained, patiently waiting. She stayed while he paraded through the room, causing damage and cursing at himself. Finally he looked at her. If he was going to do this, to be with this girl whom he loved, it was going to stay that way. Weakly, he walked back towards her. He sighed.

"If we do this, it's going to be for good."

Something behind Sakura's eyes shone. She nodded.

"I want you, Sakura," he admitted. "I want to protect you, I want…" he struggled to find words that didn't sound trite, but came up with nothing. "I want to be your man." Her man, her lover, he best friend. No matter how corny it sounded, it was the truth. He wanted this girl forever. He wanted to be with her, care for her, provide for her, live with her, marry her, be the father of her children. Anything. Everything. He prayed silently that she understood the heavy meaning in his words.

There was something in their chemistry, their connection that communicated these things. So many words were not necessary. Sakura knew what Gaara meant, even through six simple words. Carefully, she slid her hands down both his arms and intertwined their fingers. This was not just an admittance of mutual attraction or the announcement of their relationship. This was going to be a life commitment.

"I'm yours, Gaara," she whispered. His. _His._ She was giving herself to him, her whole self, her body, mind, and soul. No man could hope for anything more than for the woman he loved to give herself to him. _Mine!_ his mind screamed joyfully, _Sakura! Mine!_ She was giving him her heart. She already had his on a string; he would keep hers on a pedestal. Perhaps being with him _would_ bring Sakura trouble, but in that moment Gaara secretly vowed to do anything and everything in his power to give this girl the fullest life he possibly could. She was now his to love and cherish. _His_.

Without another word, Gaara closed the space between them with a kiss. The dam broke. Weeks of restricted contact and pent up longing of wanted touch flooded over both of them. They kissed and hugged and touched and sat and held one another. They rested their foreheads together and closed their eyes and reveled in the moment they shared. Their quiet, perfect moment.

"Sorry I'm late, kids. Hope you didn't miss me too much." Wisps of Kakashi's angular, silver hair bounced as he crossed the room and sat swiftly in his chair. "I got caught up in the bathroom."

Too happy to be embarrassed, Sakura giggled. "The bathroom?" she laughed.

With a shifty glance to the orange book in his hand, Kakashi cleared his throat. "Whatever was served at lunch today was a killer."

Gaara scowled at his teacher, annoyed that his wonderful moment with Sakura had been shattered. His love's unabashed laughter, however, warmed his insides and lightened his mood. He hadn't seen Sakura so happy in weeks. Her cheeks were pink again, her skin warm. This was his Sakura, his cherry blossom. Beautiful and pink and happy. A small smirk emerged from his angry expression, and he finally gave in. "Oh really?" he taunted Kakashi, "I don't believe you."

"Did you try the Meatloaf Surprise?"

Gaara grimaced, "No."

"Then you wouldn't understand."

Gaara only grunted in response, and Sakura giggled some more. Their sensei eyed them thoroughly, apathetic to the fact but not unaware that they lay sitting in each other's arms on the floor of his classroom. "Nothing illegal happened while I was gone, did it?" he inquired dryly.

Sakura shook her head side to side as she pushed herself off the ground. Gaara resisted the reflex to scowl at her absence and pushed himself up as well. "Nope," he replied. "We sat and read our assigned books, just as you instructed us to do."

Sakura rolled her eyes. "_I_ sat and read my assigned book as I was instructed to do."

"And I glared at the wall," Gaara pretended to remember.

"While Kakashi-sensei watched over us carefully and diligently in a disciplinary manner," Sakura finished.

Kakashi's gaze flipped back and forth between his two students and he raised a single eyebrow skeptically. "And that's what you're going to tell anyone who asks?" The two teens nodded in agreement. The silver-haired man's expression softened and he gave a single nod in return. "Very good, my young grasshoppers. I have taught you well."

He pulled out his book again and allowed his attention to fall away from the girl and boy in front of him. With side glances at one another, Gaara and Sakura stood confusedly, unsure of what to do next. It was only after Kakashi announced, "You're free to go," that the two of them exited the classroom.

After they were gone, he relaxed into his seat. "Hatake Kakashi: Teen Relationship Rescue." he mused to himself. The clock ticked at him. Only 5:47. No need to hurry home; he could spare another few minutes. Kakashi pulled out his little orange book and settled in for another chapter.

Despite his lingering headache, Gaara made sure to check around every corner and over his shoulder, constantly looking for anything or anyone that might pose as a threat. There was no forgetting what had happened the last time he and Sakura had been alone on school grounds together. They made it to her car safely, but he wouldn't let her get in it until he'd gotten a long, fulfilling kiss. She smiled as their faces parted, and he gave her a kiss on the forehead. "So we can tell 'em now, right?" she asked, referring to their friends. Her boyfriend chuckled, "I think they already know, but yeah, you can tell them."

His girlfriend smiled and tried to open the door of her car, but Gaara stopped her once again. "One last thing," he whispered. He lowered his lips to her ear and asked huskily, "Will you go to the Fall Dance with me?"

Shudders of pleasure cascaded through Sakura's body as Gaara's warm breath tickled the delicate peach fuzz on her ear. After he'd pulled away slightly, she nodded. "Yes," she accepted, "I'd love to."

Gaara offered her a genuine grin and gave her final kiss on the lips before he parted in the direction of his family's car. The drive to the Hyuuga's was short one, but he trailed behind Sakura's car nonetheless, ensuring she got there safely. As he drove past, she blew him a kiss and he revved his engine. Hinata stood in the open doorway, waiting for her friend. She seemed too shocked to wave as she watched Gaara round the corner onto the next street.

The mousy girl turned questioningly back to her friend. "Sakura…?"

Sakura bounced excitedly over to the dark-haired girl, "Hinata! I've got so much to tell you!"

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R&R.

Please and thank-you.

-Olly BaaBaa-Chan


	26. Chapter 26

Disclaimer: Don't own Naruto

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Okay, this will be the last chapter before the 'Final' chapter of The Trouble With Me.

I don't know when I'll be able to post it.

I'm sorry.

-Olly BaaBaa-Chan

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Gaara turned off the engine of the car and sighed. His wonderful afternoon with Sakura was over, and it was now time to face his family. What would they say to him? _What will I say to them? _He wondered. As he stood up out of the car, a cool breeze brushed past him and chilled the skin of his forearms. Everyone was going to have to start dressing warmer soon; the cool breath of autumn was unmistakable.

The kitchen was deserted when Gaara entered his home, but he could hear the tv in the next room. He sauntered towards the sound. Kankuro was sitting on the couch, watching some band perform during the halftime show of a football game. Gaara sat down as well, but his brother ignored him. Gaara couldn't tell if it was out of fear or anger. "Where's Temari?" he asked solemnly.

"Upstairs," the older brother grunted, still focused on the television. "In her room."

It was all the information Gaara needed. He stood up and made a beeline for his sister's room.

Something tugged on the back of his collar.

Suddenly he was falling backwards. He became well acquainted with the kitchen floor linoleum in that moment; his back, head, and arms were all laid flat against it. His headache seared, and he looked around angrily for his attacker.

But his attacker was his brother. Gaara glared at Kankuro in shock, but the tattooed face remained emotionless. Kankuro had never struck his younger brother before. Never. They didn't always agree with one another, sure, but it had never become physical. In fact, Kankuro had always held a certain level of fearful respect for Gaara, just like all their other friends. He'd never once pulled the "I'm the elder brother and you're going to respect me instead" card. He'd always been content to just be the goofy older brother, the one to tease and joke.

Not the one to drag his little brother to the ground. Literally.

"What the fuck?" Gaara snapped. He pushed himself off the floor.

"What do you want with Temari?" Kankuro demanded.

Gaara's anger grew. He tried to push past his brother, but Kankuro was unexpectedly quick. He shoved Gaara back once again, this time with his own anger shining in his eyes. He asked again, "What do you want with her?"

Gaara tried once again to simply shove past Kankuro, but the latter was determined. With all his might, he pushed Gaara up against the nearest wall and tried his best to pin him. Gaara fought back, struggling against his brother's hold on him. When had Kankuro become so strong? _This is dangerous, _his inner voice warned. He could already feel the anger forming into something else: the adrenaline, the testosterone, the blood lust. He didn't want to hurt Kankuro, but if they didn't stop soon, he wouldn't be able to control it.

"Get the fuck off me!" Gaara demanded. He gripped at his bother's forearms and tried to push him away, but the fatigue and sickness from the night before was beginning to show through. Kankuro wasn't about to budge.

"Tell me what you want with her!" he demanded again.

Gaara's stubbornness fought back. He growled angrily. "I don't have to fucking tell you anything!" He aimed it, he shot it. A knee directly into his brother's gut. Kankuro coughed and leaned downward, his grip on Gaara loosening. The redhead freed himself from his brother's grasp and advanced forward, but within seconds Kankuro was on him again. He pulled Gaara back down by his leg. The anger boiled. The growls echoed in his head. Gaara's vision blurred slightly. He needed to stop.

_But you're almost there…You can finish him…_

Gaara spun quickly around and caught his brother in a choke hold. He could feel the blood pulsing underneath his fingertips.

_Yes… yes that's it… there's blood there… fresh clean blood that needs to be spilled…_

He wagged his head, trying to free himself of the horrible thoughts racing through it. He just needed to talk to Temari… talk to both of them… find out what happened… explain to them what he'd seen… explain to them why…

"I just," he forced, "I just need to… to talk to her." Why was that so much harder to say out loud?

Kankuro's face was purpling, matching the color of the markings on his face. He was thrashing his legs and clawing at Gaara's arms. Gaara shouldn't have been enjoying this, enjoying the struggle underneath him.

"I won't…" Kankuro gasped, "Let you… hurt her… again."

Coldness seeped through Gaara's pores. He released his coughing, sputtering brother and backed away. The anger was gone. The adrenaline, gone. A new, much stronger feeling was fermenting in his gut now.

Guilt.

Her cheek. He'd somewhat guessed he'd done that to her, but… But now it scared him. Too quickly for Kankuro to react, Gaara was sprinting up the stairs and into his sister's room. She was lying on her bed, with music pumping into both her ears. When he entered, she looked up and quickly stood in surprise. Gaara never came into her room. Why was he here now? Why did he look so… she paused and took her ear phones out. Her little brother looked almost… worried.

Her motherly, sisterly instincts kicked in. She advanced towards him, cautiously, and asked, "Gaara, what's wrong?"

Gaara turned his gaze away from her and punched the wall next to him. The bruise on her cheek had worsened and spread. It now reached up and around her right eye, and it was swollen. She couldn't open her eye all the way. Now Gaara understood why Kankuro was so defensive. That morning, when Gaara left for school, he hadn't gotten a good look at his sister. He'd only caught glimpses. Now he was fully seeing it for the first time, and it sickened him. He'd gotten in plenty of fights throughout his life. Everyone knew that. He'd left his mark on numerous young men that had been bold enough to approach him with a fight. Kimimaru was just one example. Sasuke was a second. He'd even received his share of cuts and bruises in return.

But he'd never…

Ever…

Hit a girl.

No matter how much of a stubborn, defiant, rogue Gaara was, he retained that small shred of chivalry. But now he was looking at his own handiwork against the tanned features of his sister's face. His mind screamed, _It was an accident!_ But it didn't feel like one. His sister had practically raised him. She was the closest thing he'd ever had to a mother.

"Gaara?"

"I'm sorry," he choked. Temari froze. Gaara? Apologize? She gingerly touched her swollen cheek and swallowed thickly. He turned around to face her just as Kankuro stumbled through the door. His neck was red and his eyes were watering. Temari rushed to him. "Kankuro! Oh my God, what the hell is going on?"

Kankuro's angry, watery eyes focused on Gaara, who had nothing to say in defense.

"I'm sorry," he rasped again. It seemed to be no use. Hardly ever did he utter those words and now they didn't even seem to be working. _Serves me right, I suppose._ He slumped down and held his head in his hands. _I really am a monster._

"You're not a monster," he heard his sister whisper. He glanced up at her in surprise. _Did I say that out loud?_

"Yes," she nodded slowly. Gaara rubbed the stubble on his chin and chuckled. He was more exhausted than he thought. He took a breath to prepare himself.

He asked, finally, "What happened last night?"

"You really don't remember anything?" she asked hopefully. Gaara shook his head 'no'. Kankuro glowered and Temari took a deep, shaky breath. She told him how, after he'd disappeared upstairs, she'd realized he hadn't had a real dinner. "I was going to let you go without," she confessed, "Because I was mad at you for rushing out on your bike, you know? And for what you said afterward when you got home." But instead she'd given in to the responsible voice in her head and marched upstairs. She knocked on his door, but Gaara didn't come. There were noises coming from inside, though. "There was grunting." Her unmarred cheek reddened with embarrassment. "I thought you were… you know…" she cocked her head to the side to indicate what Gaara had already guessed. He grimaced and waited for her to continue.

She was about to leave and go back downstairs, thoroughly disgusted, but then she heard him call out a name. And it definitely wasn't Sakura's.

Gaara swallowed. Hard. _Kimimaru._

Temari went on to explain that she'd cracked the door open. She couldn't see well with the lights off, but she could make out Gaara's body on the bed. She turned on the light.

"Your eyes were closed," she remembered, "You were sweating and thrashing your arms and legs and groaning. I called up Kankuro for help."

They tried repeatedly to wake up their little brother for several minutes. Gaara only continued to suffer beyond their reach of help. "We didn't know what had happened." Kankuro mumbled.

"We were scared for you," Temari whispered.

Gaara gazed guiltily back at them. He'd only wanted to sleep…

Kankuro then continued the story. They finally got a response from their little brother. "You tried to get out of the bed on your own, but you fell down. Temari tried to help you, but…"

_I disfigured her face, _Gaara realized. _What a way to show my gratitude._

Kankuro told how Gaara had tried to walk his way out of the room, but he was too sick and unsteady. "You threw up in the hall," _The Nyquil. _"And then passed out."

So that was it. Gaara couldn't remember any of it past the dream itself. Then he'd woken up in the early morning on the couch in the same, sweat-soaked clothes he'd gone to bed in.

"I just wanted to sleep," he muttered. "I took Nyquil. I just wanted to sleep." Temari scooted around and sat beside him. Her fearless closeness was comforting. Gaara told them bitterly about his dream. Kankuro sighed and sat on the other side of his little brother.

"I'm sorry about before, man," Kankuro apologized, "I was just angry, ya know? I shouldn't have pushed you." Gaara nodded in acceptance, though he felt like he was the only one who needed to do any apologizing.

Temari planted a kiss on Gaara's forehead and attempted to lighten the mood. "So who's hungry?"

Gaara looked over to his brother, who gave him a grin and a wink. "I'm starving."

The redhead sighed. "So we're cool?"

Temari smiled and Kankuro ruffled his hair. Gaara smirked. Good. He _was_ rather hungry. "Never ruffle my hair again."

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Well, that's that.

I hope you've enjoyed the story thus far.

Thank you,

-Olly


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